Over six million donkey hides are used each year for ‘Ejiao’ – a product used in food supplements and skincare. Global demand fuels the dangerous market, which is threatening the world’s donkey population.
Older man with his donkey in India.
If a family does not have a donkey, then the woman or children become ‘the donkey,’ they need to transport heavy water and goods, and they cannot go to school.
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Ejiao is a gelatin used in traditional medicine, food, drink, and beauty products and is made from the collagen found in donkey hides. It is believed to offer health benefits like improved circulation and anti-aging effects, but there is no scientific evidence for its effectiveness. Demand is rising, and donkeys are paying the ultimate price.
Donkeys are transported to slaughter, often being walked for weeks. “The donkey hide trade is an existential threat to an entire species and must be stopped. I see communities suffer for a senseless trade which results in misery and economic devastation across Africa,” stated Dr. Raphael Knoti, Regional Director of Brooke East Africa.
Dr. Scott Miller (UK’s ITV’s This Morning, Rescue Vet) and Brooke USA Foundation’s sister organization Brooke: Action for Working Horses & Donkeys have partnered on a new exposé on this trade that could wipe out half of Africa’s donkey population by 2040.
The film ‘From Skin to Skincare’ will premiere on October 21 on Dr. Scott’s YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/@rescuevet. The trailer can be watched at https://youtu.be/uhXkQMh_WnY?si=-pmHmWEmvVWwrMBc.
In July 2025, Dr. Scott traveled to Kenya, visiting Nairobi and Kalolo to meet with experts from the Brooke family of charities, who have been campaigning for a global ban on the donkey hide trade. In February 2024, they helped secure an Africa-wide ban on the donkey hide trade, but the illegal trade continues across the continent.
In the 80-minute film, Dr. Scott visits slaughterhouses where he meets with informants. He meets with communities who have been devastated by the loss of the donkeys, including one woman, Veronica, who did not speak for several months after her donkeys were stolen from her home just outside Nairobi. Veronica considered them her children and was unable to speak again until another rescue donkey was later rehomed with her family.
Issues exposed in the documentary include:
- The impact of the trade on the global population of donkeys and their decline across Africa.
- The cruelty towards donkeys in the slaughterhouses in Africa, with informants risking their lives to expose it.
- How China leads the global demand for ejiao (gelatine from the hides) and how it is used for food supplements and skincare.
- How the trade fuels gender inequity as children and women replace the work done by the donkeys.
- How the threat of zoonotic diseases is on the rise as donkey meat is concealed and mislabeled across Kenya.
Dr. Scott said, “Despite knowing the horrors of the donkey hide trade before visiting Africa, I was not prepared for what I witnessed. This unsustainable and cruel trade is destroying donkey populations worldwide. These gentle creatures often face a grim fate, being stolen or sold under duress. They endure long, grueling journeys only to be brutally slaughtered at the end.”
“If a family does not have a donkey, then the woman or children become ‘the donkey,’ they need to transport heavy water and goods, and they cannot go to school. This trade drives gender inequity and is part of a vicious cycle that keeps people trapped in poverty,” added Dr. Scott.
Global Chief Executive of Brooke, Chris Wainwright, said: “The donkey skin trade sees hundreds of thousands of donkeys killed for their hides every year. There is a horrific impact on donkeys and causes communities to lose their livelihoods. He continued, “It is one of the biggest animal welfare and socio-economic threats of our age, and we urgently need to secure a global ban. Just as we have challenged the trade in other wildlife products, like Rhino horn, we must come together to highlight the desperate plight of millions of donkeys.”
Just last month, U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) reintroduced the Ejiao Act (H.R. 5544) in the House of Representatives to ban the sale and trade of ejiao products in the United States.
“More and more people in poorer countries are seeing the animals they depend on killed to meet the demand for the ejiao, fueling the donkey hide trade. We should act immediately and help shut down this trade that leads to substantial harm to humans and animals worldwide,” noted Emily Dulin, CEO of Brooke USA.
Ejiao remains largely unknown to most American consumers, yet the United States is the third-largest importer of products containing ejiao. Some companies — notably eBay — have prohibited the sale of ejiao. But others continue to sell the gelatin. For the last five years, Brooke USA has been working to ban the sale of ejiao on the global platform.
To make your voice heard in Congress, visit www.BrookeUSA.org/ejiao-act, and ask your State Representative and Senator to support the Ejiao Act (H.R. 5544).
Brooke USA Foundation‘s (BrookeUSA.org) mission 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.
Press release by Amy Sales