Rosamma,
Every year, at least 5 million donkeys are slaughtered for their skins, their hides boiled down into “ejiao,” a gelatin sold in luxury cosmetics and supplements.
As demand explodes, donkeys are being stolen from villages, crammed onto trucks without food or water, and beaten to death with hammers. Others are skinned alive. It’s a cruel, brutal trade, and right now, we have a chance to stop it — with something as simple as changing one word in the law.
In California, we just helped ban the donkey trade by proving that a state law protecting “equines” from torture was being violated. Other states have nearly identical laws on the books, but there’s just one problem: the wording only explicitly protects horses.
By updating the wording to protect all equines we can unlock an entirely new legal pathway to stop this cruelty, but it’s going to take a coordinated push of public pressure, legal experts, and lobbying to pull it off.
Can you chip in now to help Ekō seize this opportunity to stop the donkey torture trade – and stop animal cruelty worldwide?
For families across Africa and Asia, this growing donkey trade is catastrophic. Donkeys carry water, transport crops, and help children get to school. When one is stolen, an entire family can lose its livelihood overnight.
The United States is one of the world’s biggest importers of ejiao, bringing $12 million of products into the country every year. But now we can change that by getting lawmakers across the country to recognize donkeys under existing anti-cruelty laws.
Last year, our movement used this strategy to secure a groundbreaking victory in California — the only place in the world that bans donkey trade. Now, we’re working alongside partners to do it again in New York, helping draft and advance the proposal and while building the grassroots pressure needed to get it over the finish line.
Then, in July, we’ll take that pressure to the National Conference of State Legislatures — seizing a major opportunity to get this proposal directly in front of decision-makers from dozens of states at once. We’ll mobilize the public and bring animal welfare experts to the meeting, making California and New York the blueprint for nationwide action.
Our team is ready to go, but getting this over the finish line takes resources. Will you chip in today to help Ekō and our partners stop the donkey torture trade – and defend all animals from cruelty?
Your donation will help power Ekō and our campaigns worldwide fighting for people and the planet.
