Brooke USA Foundation, the leading equine welfare organization working to improve the lives of working horses, donkeys, and mules in developing countries, is launching an emergency appeal to raise funds to help working animals affected by the massive earthquake that struck Morocco on September 8, 2023.
Young boy with family's donkey foal.
Working animals are essential to the livelihoods of millions of people in Morocco and since they are used for transportation, agriculture, and construction, many families will struggle to survive without them.
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Families in several cities in Morocco rushed out of their homes and into the streets after a magnitude-6.8 earthquake struck at 11:11 p.m. on Sept. 8, 2023. A 4.9 magnitude aftershock followed 19 minutes later. This earthquake is the largest seismic activity since 1960. The search for survivors continues with more than 2,900 pronounced dead and 5,500 injured.
The earthquake caused widespread damage in the northern region of Morocco, including the collapse of buildings and infrastructure. The earthquake also left many working animals injured and displaced.
“Working animals are essential to the livelihoods of millions of people in Morocco,” said Brooke USA Foundation CEO Emily Dulin. “They are used for transportation, agriculture, and construction. Without their working animals, many families will struggle to survive. These working animals will also be the invisible workers who will bring emergency aid to remote communities, help with the rebuilding of the infrastructure and allow for families to begin the steps to recover from such a terrific tragedy.”
As the search continues in the remote regions of Morocco, outside of Marrakech, the vulnerable communities are facing a lack of supplies, nutrition, water, doctors and veterinarians, as well as shelter. Many displaced people and animals are asleep in the streets, while others are suffering beneath the rubble of the earthquake’s aftermath.
Brooke USA is partnering with SPANA, which works across Morocco and is committed to supporting the country’s working animals. A SPANA team is currently visiting the area of the earthquake to provide vital support to working animals affected by this tragedy and will be developing a longer-term response plan to help animals and the communities that depend on them. Local partners in Morocco will work to provide veterinary care, food, and shelter to working animals affected by the earthquake.
“We are committed to helping the working animals of Morocco recover from this devastating earthquake,” said Jim Hamilton, Chairman of the Board of Brooke USA Foundation. “We are asking our supporters to please donate today to help us make a difference.”
To donate to Brooke USA Foundation’s emergency appeal for working animals in Morocco, please visit www.brookeusa.org/morocco.
About Brooke USA Foundation (Brooke USA): The mission of Brooke USA is to significantly improve the health, welfare and productivity of working horses, donkeys and mules and the people who depend on them for survival worldwide.
We are committed to sustainable economic development by reducing poverty, increasing food security, ensuring access to water, providing a means to education, and raising basic standards of living through improved equine health and welfare. We accomplish this by raising funds and responsibly directing them to the areas of greatest need.
Brooke USA strives to alleviate the suffering and vulnerability of developing communities by funding and implementing programs that improve the quality of life and health of working equines and thereby positively impacting their economic sustainability, protecting the planet, ensuring gender equality, and guaranteeing life on land resilience. We want to see healthy, happy people and equines that work in partnership to achieve sustainable local economies.
About The Donkey Project: Brooke USA’s “The Donkey Project” is a year-long campaign set to raise an ambitious $1.5 million by June 30, 2024. “The Donkey Project” is intended to grow the organization’s depth of work while raising more funds in support of working donkeys and the people who depend on them for survival in vulnerable communities worldwide.
For 600 million people in some of the poorest places in the world, 100 million of these animals and other equines are the backbone of communities and their best means of making a living. Without healthy working donkeys, people would not be able to put food on their tables, send their children to school or build better futures for themselves and their families. In sum, donkeys are essential to the livelihoods of people in developing countries.
“The Donkey Project” aims to radically raise the profile of donkeys all over the world.
To learn more about “The Donkey Project”, all activities planned throughout the year or to make a gift, please visit www.thedonkeyproject.org.
Press release by Emily Dulin - CEO Brooke USA Foundation