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Equids in general experience transient lives where ownership may change multiple times, for working equids this can be more extreme where ownership changes are not only numerous but abrupt, and situations encountered prove difficult, diverse and tough for equids to adapt. In this study, we investigate the life cycle of pack mules in Nepal, investigating the challenges they face during their lives through to end of life. To gain insight into the lives of mules, we conducted semi-structured interviews and livelihood surveys with 27 key informants, gathering the perspectives of the people working with mules. Welfare assessments of the mules were undertaken via the Equid Assessment Research and Scoping tool (EARS) by a trained assessor. Mules had to adapt swiftly to changes in industry type, enduring long distance transportation in overloaded vehicles and across country borders with no checks for biosecurity or welfare. Mules had to show swift adaptation to their new environment, to respond to and learn new tasks via inhumanely administered training, using inappropriate techniques, delivered by owners lacking in understanding of mule behaviour and learning. Environmental conditions were often hard; the negotiation of difficult terrain and challenging weather conditions during monsoon and subsequent high-altitude working without acclimatisation likely pushed mules to their biological limits. This study investigates the lives of a population of mules in the mountains of Nepal, developing a better understanding of their needs and their ‘truth’ or ‘telos’ informing what measures will help them to thrive.

The brick kilns in India are associated with extremely low pay, poor working conditions and a lack of regulation. Equids, however, may provide a route out of poverty by enabling workers to access a higher income. The relatively higher financial returns from healthy equids could also motivate welfare improvements. We used a mixed-methods approach including livelihoods questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and welfare assessments to investigate the links between poverty, equid ownership and equid welfare in the brick kilns of Ahmedabad, India. Whilst equid owners earned more than non-owners during the kiln season, the opposite trend was found for these workers for work conducted outside of the kilns during the off-season. Equid ownership was, however, strongly influenced by social factors and, within certain communities, equid ownership may be the only viable escape from extreme poverty. In terms of welfare, equid behaviour was better for owners with better financial security, likely due to the availability of resources. Equid health improved with longevity of ownership, suggesting that owners who view working with their equids as a long-term partnership are more likely to ensure their equids are kept in good health. For stakeholders aiming to improve both human health and equid welfare, a 'one welfare' approach which values the intrinsic connections between poverty and both equid ownership and equid welfare could greatly increase success.

The last twenty years have seen increased interest in animal-assisted therapy (AAT) and animal-assisted activity (AAA). However, there has been little research exploring these interactions as experienced by the animals themselves. In this paper, we bring a “more-than-human” lens to concepts and practices within AAA/T, synthesizing ideas about animal sentience and subjectivity that have emerged within animal geography scholarship and animal welfare science. We draw from empirical work with practitioners involved in donkey-facilitated learning (DFL) to examine the knowledge base of equine facilitators, including their beliefs, opinions, and assumptions about donkeys, their understanding of animal welfare, and their role in DFL. We discuss how knowledge of donkeys is mobilized to ensure more-than-human welfare during DFL; how animals’ “choice” to participate is encouraged and centered; how ideas of nonhuman labor create opportunities for considering more-than-human welfare; and how practitioners advocate for animals and embed practices of care for humans and nonhumans.

This paper explores the interwoven lives of donkeys and the people who depend on them for their livelihoods in central Ethiopia. Drawing on data from 12 participatory workshops, insights were elicited into the ways human co-workers value and treat their donkey co-workers. Methodologically, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and Appreciative Inquiry (AI) techniques were merged to explore the complex and multi-dimensional contributions donkeys make to participants’ lives. Findings reveal working with donkeys can make the difference between destitution and modest survival, but societal perception of donkeys as low-status animals has an impact on their owners’ lives and donkey wellbeing. This research contributes empirical insights on the valuing of donkeys and enables a deepened understanding of human-donkey relations. The combination of PRA and AI in the methodology demonstrates how to formulate a compassionate and empathetic approach for exploring donkey value and wellbeing with marginalized groups.

Ethiopia is home to approximately 19% of the estimated global donkey population of 45.8 million (FAO, 2018). These donkeys’ lives are intricately linked with the lives of people who own and work with them, often some of Ethiopian society’s most impoverished and marginalized members (Admassu & Shiferaw, 2011). Through their labor, donkeys provide transportation and draught power and can make a significant contribution to people’s livelihoods, enabling access to water, foodstuffs, education, and healthcare (Geiger et al., 2020; Maggs et al., 2021). But the social, economic, and cultural value of donkeys is more nuanced than this broad statement suggests, differing with the intricacies of the lives and requirements of the human(s) with whom they coexist. To support donkeys and those who depend upon them, it is necessary to further our understanding of the value placed on donkeys and the subtleties of their impact on people’s lives. Despite their important contributions to many of Ethiopia’s impoverished, donkeys remain absent from the government’s nonhuman animal health and welfare policies, are overlooked in development goals, and are undervalued by wider society. Thus, exploring how humans affect donkeys’ wellbeing is crucial for understanding and valuing donkeys’ impact in low- and middle-income countries.

While the number of recent studies analyzing the health and welfare of donkeys in Africa (Burn et al., 2010; Farhat et al., 2020; Geiger et al., 2021; Hiko et al., 2016; Stringer et al., 2017) has increased, little research has been conducted on social, economic, and cultural contributions of donkeys in these contexts (Maggs et al., 2021; Valette, 2015). Only a few studies focus on relationships between donkeys and their human counterparts in the African context (Geiger et al., 2020; Geiger & Hovorka, 2015). Methodologies in the scarce published literature have primarily been surveys, focus groups, questionnaires, and interviews (Hassan et al., 2013; Maggs et al., 2021; Sawi & Bwanga, 2008; Vasanthakumar et al., 2021). Few go beyond donkeys’ socioeconomic and sociocultural value to draw insights from data concerning the impacts of these animals on human lives, particularly in the Global South (Geiger & Hovorka, 2015; Geiger et al., 2020; Maggs et al., 2021; Vasanthakumar et al., 2021).

NGOs utilise a range of programming to bring about desired changes. This study examines the advantages and limitations of the range of approaches used by one particular NGO sector: working equid welfare organisations, from the perspective of NGO staff. NGO staff hold a wealth of knowledge regarding the design and implementation of welfare improvement initiatives; however this knowledge is rarely systematically documented. Through 32 semi-structured interviews the experiences of staff across multiple organisations were explored. The nine most commonly utilised approaches within equid focussed NGO programming were discussed with participants. Many themes resulting from the interviews centred around the strengths and disadvantages of these individual approaches, implemented both historically and presently by different NGOs. The influences of the context in which initiatives took place and barriers to welfare improvement that existed across approaches were also examined. Striking a balance came through as a strong theme at many levels. Balancing top-down versus bottom-up approaches was a frequently voiced concern, as was balancing the utility of certain approaches against associated factors warranting caution. Combinations of approaches that were felt to be complementary provided a balance that drew on the strengths and mitigated for the weaknesses of different approaches. The need to tailor approaches to individual contexts was also raised and is especially relevant to INGOs working across multiple countries, cultures and political structures. The study provides an informed insight into potential factors to consider when designing future welfare initiatives. The collaborative pooling of experience across different NGOs could help make welfare initiatives more effective and provide a framework for NGOs in other fields to learn from each other’s collective knowledge.

Unsustainable global wildlife trade impacts biodiversity and threatens national and global security, but many aspects of this trade remain opaque. Our study is a novel investigation of the alleged links between the trade in wildlife products and in donkey skins. The global donkey skin trade is a newly prevalent and lucrative business, largely driven by Chinese demand for E-Jiao, a traditional medicine derived from donkey skins. Records of donkey skins being seized alongside other wildlife products lead us to hypothesize that there is a link between these two trades. We identified all donkey skin dealers on seven business-to-business e-commerce websites and obtained 14,949 data points. These were used in a network analysis to demonstrate the structure of the network and reveal the connection between the products, including wild animal and plant products offered alongside donkey skins. We identified at least 13 groups of CITES-listed species in the densely connected donkey skin product network, demonstrated an association between the online trade in wildlife products and donkey skins, and discuss the implications of this overlap—including the potential to shed light on potential novel trade pathways in legal and illegal domestic animal and wildlife trade.

Animal sanctuaries are important organisations that promote animal welfare and health as well as social awareness. Following the appearance of several donkeys with severe and distinctive skin lesions in a sanctuary from western Spain in 2021, a multicomponent study was performed to rule out the possible causes. The lesions were mainly concentrated on the extremities and, to a lesser extent, on the face and/or chest. The use of cotton leggings on their extremities as an external barrier to prevent them from bites and treatments with antiparasitic, antiseptic washes and dermatitis lotion showed to be effective measures to improve the donkey lesions. Skin scraping was negative for any relevant causative agents. Histopathological examination of the lesions showed an inflammatory infiltrate at the superficial dermal level, compatible with diffuse chronic dermatitis. A field entomological study was conducted from May to October 2021 to ascertain if any Diptera was responsible for these lesions. Considerable numbers of the stable fly Stomoxys calcitrans were recorded in both sticky traps and decomposing straw bedding. Several species of haematophagous Diptera were also recorded in lower numbers in other traps placed on the farm facilities. According to the entomological data, the location of the bites and clinical signs, it was concluded that S. calcitrans was the main cause of the skin lesions in the donkeys. To our best knowledge, this is the first clinical case of donkeys affected by the stable fly in Spain. For differential diagnosis, a brief discussion of the evidence caused by other biting Diptera groups is provided.

The suckling behavior of donkey foals has rarely been explored, with most orphans being reared on protocols based on the assumption that their behavior and physiology do not differ from horses. An orphaned donkey foal at The Donkey Sanctuary was reared on an artificial suckling system, enabling the analysis of suckling behavior in an orphaned donkey. Milk formula was accessible 24-hours per day via the artificial system and suckling behavior was monitored, revealing that the foal suckled at a variable rate, with suckling durations, frequency and quantities differing from what was outlined in the standard bottle-feeding protocol for equines.

Donkeys provide important resources and benefits for millions of people worldwide. However, global donkey populations are under increasing pressure from the growing demand for a traditional Chinese medicine, e’jiao, made from donkey-skin. The objective of this reflexive, qualitative thematic analysis was to examine the role of donkeys with 262 participants in northern Ghana and how donkeys contribute to livelihood outcomes, especially their use by women and children. Data were collected from four surveys, 12 in-depth interviews and 84 daily time budgets with the same participants, plus 16 focus groups, during one wet and one dry season across 2018-19. Uniquely, boys and girls between the ages of 10–16-years old were interviewed. Donkeys are highly valued by their owners as they play a valuable role in providing a pathway out of ultra-poverty. Donkeys’ contributions to livelihoods are significant and more complex than previously understood and documented in the literature. Donkey ownership confers up to six different income benefits in comparison to non-donkey owners. Female owners of donkeys reported that donkeys can contribute between 30–60% of their income. Children of both sexes can play an important role in the efficient deployment of one of these income generating activities.

From 2010 to 2017, as part of a wider animal welfare program, The Donkey Sanctuary piloted an integrated, community-based model for the control and prevention of epizootic lymphangitis (EZL) in cart mules in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Stakeholders included muleteers, service providers, and transport and animal health regulatory authorities. Interventions included muleteer education, wound prevention, harness improvement, animal health professional training, treatment of early EZL cases, euthanasia for advanced cases, and review of transport services and traffic guidelines. The project followed a participatory project management cycle and used participatory learning and action tools to facilitate stakeholder engagement and ownership. Participatory and classical epidemiology tools were employed to raise and align stakeholder understanding about EZL for effective control and prevention and to evaluate the progress impact of the model through annual prevalence surveys. During the intervention, the annual prevalence of EZL reduced from 23.9% (102/430) (95%CI: 19.8%−27.0%) in 2010 to 5.9% (58/981) (95% CI: 4.4%−7.4%) in 2017, and wound prevalence from 44.3% in 2011 to 22.2% in 2017; trends in the reduction of the prevalence maintained in the face of a mule population that increased from 430 in 2010 to ~1,500 in 2017. While non-governmental organization (NGO)-led interventions can facilitate change by trialing new approaches and accessing new skills and resources, sustainable change requires community ownership and strengthening of service provision systems. To this effect, the project raised muleteer competence in mule husbandry and EZL prevention strategies; strengthened veterinary competence; facilitated more mule-friendly traffic, transport, and waste disposal guidelines and practices; supported mule-community bylaws to control EZL; and established a supportive network between stakeholders including trusting relationships between muleteers and veterinary services. To advance the intervention model in other endemic areas, we recommend elucidation of local epidemiological factors with other stakeholders prior to the intervention, early engagement with veterinary and transport service regulatory authorities, early development of bylaws, exploration of compensation or insurance mechanisms to support euthanasia of advanced cases, and additional social, economic, and epidemiological investigations. In line with the OIE Working Equid Welfare Standards, we suggest that integrated community-based interventions are useful approaches to the control and prevention of infectious diseases.