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Donkey skin trade is out of control Animal welfare charity, The Donkey
Sanctuary, has called for an immediate halt to the trade in donkey skins, used
to produce the traditional Chinese remedy, ejiao. The charity made the warning
while speaking at the third annual Africa Animal Welfare Conference in Ethiopia
this week. The conference, co-hosted by Africa Network for Animal Welfare
(ANAW) in collaboration with UN Environment, provided a forum for over 300
global delegates to discuss animal welfare and wildlife issues, environmental
conservation and sustainable development. The Donkey Sanctuary has been
campaigning for three years to expose the skin trade as causing a global crisis
in donkey populations. The charity is calling for a sustainable alternative to
be found in order to protect donkeys and the communities that depend on them.
The Donkey Sanctuary will shortly release an updated version of its influential
report on the skin trade Under The Skin, which will detail the continuing
chaos the skin trade is causing. The conference, co-hosted by Africa Network
for Animal Welfare (ANAW) in collaboration with UN Environment, provided a
forum for over 300 global delegates to discuss animal welfare and wildlife
issues, environmental conservation and sustainable development. Speaking at the
conference, The Donkey Sanctuary Campaigns Manager, Simon Pope, said: “Never
before have donkeys faced such a level of threat to their survival. Numbers in
some countries have collapsed due to the relentless demand in China for donkey
skins to produce ejiao, claimed by some to have medicinal properties. “These
vitally important animals experience appalling suffering in the global trade,
often transported long distances without food, water or rest only to be illegally
slaughtered, in often brutal conditions, for their skins. This is creating a
crisis we cannot ignore.â€
