Working animals
DONKEYS, mules and horses, also called equids, have served humanity for millennia. In the past, horses pulled carriages for transportation, while donkeys and mules were used for load-bearing. No army was complete without front-line cavalry or animal transport battalions.
Modern mechanisation has all but replaced animal labour. In industrialised countries, equids are mainly confined to national parks and zoos. A small number of horses are kept for ceremonial duties and equestrian sports, mostly for the well-heeled. But in low- and middle-income countries, working animals continue to contribute to economic activities and sustain livelihoods. Globally, about 600 million people depend on working animals, especially donkeys, to secure incomes.
Gainfully employed in agriculture, carrying drinking water and ensuring supply chains in difficult terrains, donkeys help governments fight hunger and poverty.
Contrary to the common perception, donkeys are intelligent and dependable companions for humans — from being bearers of domestic and agricultural burdens to enabling community trade. Their resilience and stoicism enable them to adapt to harsh climate conditions and work for hours in severe heat or freezing cold. Post-disaster, when infrastructure is destroyed, donkeys support relief work. However, in return, the humble donkey often does not receive the humane treatment it deserves. Donkeys’ services are taken for granted, and little attention is paid to their welfare. They do not receive proper care and are made to work for long hours, burdened with loads beyond their limit, and sometimes even beaten. Media images often show an emasculated animal pulling an overloaded cart — the miserable conditions of donkeys in brick kilns and farms is a case in point, while their plight in cities is no different.
The humble donkey does not receive humane treatment.
In the rapidly urbanising Global South, donkeys take a big burden — literally and figuratively — off the backs of financially constrained governments by contributing through informal urban service delivery in construction, mobility and waste collection. Without their support, some cities can drown in garbage and rural communities may be stretched beyond breaking point. Poor nations may struggle in reaching SDG targets regarding sustainable cities, waste management, clean water and sanitation, hunger, poverty etc. Seeing to their welfare is, therefore, vital to ensure that families are not deprived of a source of income and governments of a window of support.
Almost all — 99pc — of the estimated 53m global donkey population is found in developing countries, with a majority in Africa. Pakistan has about 6m donkeys, the third highest global population, after Ethiopia’s 10m and Sudan’s 7.6m.
In addition to the neglect of their welfare, donkeys’ traditional role as working animals supporting vulnerable communities faces risks on account of another development: large numbers of donkeys are being killed to meet the rising demand for their skins, which are processed to obtain ejiao, a gelatinous substance used to prepare beauty products and medicine. An estimated 6m donkeys are slaughtered each year globally for their skins, according to Brooke, a UK-based charity.
Unregulated slaughter and illegal trade meet the unsustainable demand for hides — a lucrative business which also has an environmental and health dimension. Once skins are taken for ejiao, the discarded carcasses contaminate soil and waterbodies, endangering human health and increasing the risk of zoonotic disease. Reports of unhygienic donkey meat sold as beef or mutton are not uncommon. This relates directly to the wider concern about the impact of animal welfare on biodiversity, pollution and climate change. The UN Environment Assembly has recognised the nexus between animal welfare, environmental sustainability and human health. In 2022, it directed UNEP to prepare an assessment of this issue in collaboration with the World Organisation of Animal Health, FAO and the WHO.
Alarmed by its impact on their ecologies and economies, the African Union imposed a continent-wide moratorium in 2024 on the slaughter of donkeys for their skins, committing to develop a ‘Pan-African Strategy for the Development of Donkeys in Africa’ to enhance donkeys’ welfare.
Countries like Pakistan, with the potential to export donkey skins, would benefit from analyses to monetise the contribution of donkey labour to the economy while regulating slaughter and ensuring the animals are treated humanely while alive and employed.
This would enhance the welfare of these last dependable beasts of burden in the poorest regions and protect biodiversity, prevent outbreak of disease, and ensure communities are not impacted by the loss of their valuable services.
The writer is director of intergovernmental affairs, United Nations Environment Programme.
Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2026