The Brooke's approach

We have three key areas of work:

1. Delivering direct veterinary treatment
2. Developing and implementing community programmes around animal health and well-being
3. Working with individuals and community groups to ensure working horses and donkeys get the living and working conditions they deserve.

All these core activities means that our work also benefits poor people who rely on these animals for their livelihoods.

How does the Brooke do this?

Over the years, we have developed many ways to reach even more working animals and alleviate their suffering, but it can be summarised as:

• dedicated veterinary and animal health teams who give emergency, general and preventative treatment
• and, ensuring communities and health providers in these communities are able to treat and care for their animals more effectively

In particular, we use very effective and tried and tested techniques to achieve this, such as training and awareness-raising, and special tools to help communities build up their own equine welfare plans and resources.

But the Brooke and animal-owning communities can’t make long-term, sustainable improvements to working horses and donkeys welfare on their own.

We also need individuals, veterinary and training establishments, national and international institutions, including governments, to take responsibility and make changes.

“Now we know how to identify problems early and take preventative measures – things like adding salt water to feed to keep animals healthy and happy.” 
Horse owner, Pakistan

Ground-breaking approach

The Brooke is at the leading edge of applying learning from methods that have been used successfully in a human health and development context by international non-governmental organisations.

This approach known as Participatory Rural Appraisal is well-established and includes working through group exercises, role plays and pictures.

This means we and our partners have adapted these tried-and-tested methods so that they are relevant to making a long-term, sustainable improvement to the welfare of working equine animals.

The Brooke works with communities so that the solutions and improvements to welfare for their working horses, donkeys and mules come from the communities themselves, helped and guided by our skilled teams on the ground.

Individuals and communities really believe these solutions are practical and in the
benefits of using them. Such simple changes can mean a lasting impact for animals:

In India the Brooke worked with communities to identify how old rubber tyres, a cheap, readily available material, can be used as a safe and comfortable place to tether animals, rather than inflexible and hazardous wooden posts.

In Ethiopia, working with people at the timber market led to the simple change of animals being unloaded between delivery and sale of the timber – a simple, sustainable change, with big impact for the animals.