The Brooke was founded in 1934 by Dorothy Brooke, who had been shocked at the plight of ex-war horses, sold into hard labour in Cairo's streets. She bought 5,000 of these horses - and went on to set up a free veterinary clinic. From that beginning, the Brooke has become the UK’s leading overseas welfare charity for working horses, donkeys and mules.
Working animals form the backbone of the economy in many developing countries, supporting countless poor communities where many people earn less than a dollar a day. One working horse or donkey can enable a poor owner and their family, on average six people or more, to survive – so we estimate our work also benefits over 4 million people.
Our mission is to work directly and through partners to do whatever will most improve the welfare of working horses, donkeys and mules through the alleviation of existing suffering and the development of better welfare practices and facilities to prevent and reduce suffering in the future.
The Brooke’s mobile vet teams and community animal health workers, and our partner organisations worldwide, provide free treatment to animals and train animal owners, local healers, farriers, saddlers, feed sellers, harness and cart makers – so making a sustainable difference. Our work is underpinned by methods developed with Bristol University Veterinary School.
We also raise awareness in the wider community of these animals’ vital contribution – and show how healthier, happier animals can be more productive – to help ensure that local, regional and national governments and other organisations work to improve access to the resources needed for better animal welfare.
The Brooke currently operates across ten countries in Asia, Africa, Central America and the Middle East, with over 800 highly-skilled staff working directly in the field.
Our goal is to increase the number of working animals we reach from 730,000 every year to measurably improving the lives of at least 2 million suffering horses, donkeys and mules in the most need in the developing world.
The Brooke was founded in 1934 by Dorothy Brooke, who had been shocked at the plight of ex-war horses, sold into hard labour in Cairo's streets. She bought 5,000 of these horses - and went on to set up a free veterinary clinic. From that beginning, the Brooke has become the UK’s leading overseas welfare charity for working horses, donkeys and mules.
Working animals form the backbone of the economy in many developing countries, supporting countless poor communities where many people earn less than a dollar a day. One working horse or donkey can enable a poor owner and their family, on average six people or more, to survive – so we estimate our work also benefits over 4 million people.
Our mission is to work directly and through partners to do whatever will most improve the welfare of working horses, donkeys and mules through the alleviation of existing suffering and the development of better welfare practices and facilities to prevent and reduce suffering in the future…