Brooke Report: Working Horses are Invisible

Working equids are not considered “critical” in livestock policies that ensure owners properly care for their animals.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

A new report from the Brooke suggests that the contribution of working horses, donkeys, and mules to the livelihoods of some of the world’s poorest people is often overlooked, leaving working equids “invisible” in livestock policy.

The report, "Invisible Workers," presents evidence showing how working horses, donkeys, and mules around the world help enable their owners to earn money, feed, clothe, and educate their families. These animals work in many areas including construction, agriculture, and public transportation; however, many of them work every day with inadequate access to food or water and while suffering from wounds, disease, and lameness.

Case Study

Kawar Pal is 35 years old and lives close to and trades in the Baghpat market in India, earning around 300-400 INR (US$4-$6) per day to support his wife and three children. Pal has one mule, a 15-year-old mare (pictured above). Two months ago his mule fell onto a wooden stake used to tie her up. This caused internal injuries including a haematoma. A Brooke veterinarian performed surgery and the mare had to rest from work for two weeks. Pal was extremely grateful for what the Brooke did, but said that it was a hard time during those two weeks, because he couldn’t earn the money he needed to support his family.

"My mule earns the money I use to provide the food for my family and it also gets my children to school,” he said. “I had to borrow money when she was sick, so I don’t know what I’d do without her

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
311 votes · 311 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!