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Brooke USA Foundation: Empowering Equines & People

Emergency Disaster Relief in India Made Possible Through Brooke USA Foundation

At the onset of 2021, India was steadily moving towards a path of recovery from the first wave of COVID-19. However, this phase was short-lived. By April, a high tide of infections shook the country, again with fatal consequences. To limit the second surge of COVID-19, all State governments and Union Territories imposed a complete lockdown and stricter localized restrictions. The result was a total shutdown of the country from April to June.  

The lockdown brought about the loss of livelihoods in many sectors and sections of the country. Predominantly, workers in the Indian unorganized industries took a significant economic blow, including daily wagers, laborers, construction workers, artisans, migrant workers and equine owners. The equine owning communities lost their source of income due to closed workplaces such as brick kilns, and restrictions in all movements. With equine owners’ dwindling earnings, their struggle to cater to their families’ needs increased manifold, resulting in complete neglect of their equines. They barely managed to survive with their savings and were left with nothing when lockdown restrictions eased.  

Brooke India (BI) identified three critical areas for Emergency Intervention for equine owning communities:  

• Equine owners’ inability to provide quality feed and fodder  
• First Aid Kits not replenished due to lack of earnings 
• Local Health Provider (LHP) services were erratic and undependable due to movement restrictions, affecting prompt aid 

Once BI identified the needs, a comprehensive emergency plan was developed and executed, facilitating the well-being of equine owning communities, and the health and welfare of the equines. The intervention supported equine owning communities with feed resources and adequate provision for first aid to ailing animals. 

Because of you we were able to help!

 
Key accomplishments of Brooke USA’s Emergency Intervention   

BI used its existing, well-formed systems and networks of Community-Based Organizations to roll out their emergency work. A subsidy-based model allowed for effective and efficient disbursement of funds and services to equine owning communities. 

Due to your support, Brooke USA's funding reached 11,190 equine owners and 21,013 equines. Subsidy support worth approximately $30,254 was distributed amongst 274 Community-Based Organizations. Below is the summary of key achievements of the emergency intervention.  

Intervention Support & Output 

Dry Fodder (kilograms) - 52,367 

Balanced Feed (kilograms) - 66,393 

First Aid Kits - 935 

Azolla Pits - 376 

Napier Grass Saplings - 12,184 

Hydroponics Plastic Trays - 100 

“Brooke India gave us strength as we struggled during lockdown due to restrictions on movement and loss of work. They came to our aid and offered us a 50% subsidy for buying grains [for equines] to prepare the balanced feed. Their support helped us get through the crisis. My family and my horse survived. I thank their entire team for providing timely help.” -Jameel Ahmed, equine owner, Kashipur, Uttarakhand 

A Look at Pakistan's Coal Mines & Our Reach

Brooke Pakistan works in 200 coal mines in the districts of Chakwal and Khushab, all of which are located inside mountains where the terrain is incredibly tough, hard and difficult to access.

The mines themselves are very restrictive, with entrances no larger than 6 ft x 6 ft, usually in a slanting position, and lengths of between 700 to 5,000 feet.  A single working donkey has to evacuate 1-2 tons of coal in a single day, in extreme working environments.  As such, they suffer from various conditions, including foot problems, skin and eye infections, and respiratory illness. 

Access to these sites is challenging, and local health providers are often reluctant to visit, meaning the animals are often deprived of veterinary services. Adding to the difficulties, there is no water inside the mountains, so supplies have to be brought in by tractor tankers from nearby towns.  

During Brooke USA's grant period, all of the team’s planned activities were completed; reaching 6,466 working equines and 4,060 people. 

Brooke USA's support increased the ability for Brooke Pakistan to use its strong relationship with the country’s Livestock Department, assisting in scheduling visits from the Government Mobil Veterinary Dispensaries (MVDs), where they not only provided treatment to the needy animals but also helped educate equine owners on sound animal welfare practices. 

Community Change Agents (CCA’s), working in a voluntary capacity, were trained in first aid, enabling them to provide services to their needy animals. Alongside training provided to coal mine owners, this resulted in all 200 mines having a continuous supply of water provided, comfortable stables, and first aid kits provided.

As the yearly targets have been achieved, we will not be moving into new mines, but instead consolidating work within the current 200 sites, whilst identifying sites for our new strategic period. 

Fundraising for Demo Plots in Nicaragua Continues

Brooke USA Funds 60 Additional Demo Plots

At the start of 2022 Brooke USA Foundation distributed $30,000 to the Demo Plot Program in Nicaragua. Our goal is to contribute 233 plots, in addition to the 105 funded in 2021. You can help more than 1,000 people and 1,800 equines in Nicaragua when you support this project today. We are raising funds for 173 demo plots in Nicaragua. Investment in this project covers the purchase of the land; the provision of equipment like wire fencing to protect the plants from animals and theft; and the purchase of starter plants and seeds, which will come from the original participants of the pilot program.

From the ground up, this program teaches sustainability: how to grow food, how to use it, how to store it, and how to sell it. In addition, this pilot program in Nicaragua can serve as a model for expansion across the Americas. Your support of Brooke USA’s Americas Fund will help us purchase 173 more demo plots in rural communities in Nicaragua. These demo plots are used to teach and train villagers on the basics of fodder cultivation – from planting to storing food for their equines. The cost per plot is $500. The change you can make for a family and their working equines--priceless!

Brooke USA's White Party Goes Green

March 17th  |  Wellington, Fl

The national nonprofit organization Brooke USA Foundation (Brooke USA) will host its annual signature event on Thursday, March 17 from 6:00 PM to 11:00 PM at the elegant Wellington National Golf Club. The coveted event returns with a twist as Brooke USA’s White Party Goes Green in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day and boasting a Las Vegas-style Casino. Intended to raise funds for working horses, donkeys and mules and the people who depend on them for survival worldwide, the fun-filled evening offers a safe environment for those wanting to party on St. Paddy’s Day.

Brooke USA’s White Party Goes Green with St. Patrick’s Day Casino Night is planned to be a spectacular affair as guests fittingly test their luck. Appropriately, the upscale Wellington National will be transformed into a Celtic-themed extravaganza, including décor, food, drinks, and entertainment. Upon arrival, partiers will be greeted by Irish River Dancers, sure to set the mood for the St. Paddy’s Day inspired event.

Éigse (eg-shuh) is an Irish word used for festivals celebrating traditional Irish arts and culture. It is in this spirit that Brooke USA calls upon equestrians and South Floridians to help raise funds to alleviate the suffering and vulnerability of developing communities and improve the quality of life and health of working equines.

After registration, guests will secure their “play chips” and enter the open-air grand patio where they will experience the sights and sounds of a real casino as players roar with every roll of the dice at the craps table. Or try a hand at outhustling the blackjack dealer while sipping on themed drinks. The roulette tables are sure to be popular as participants decide on what to bet only moments before the dealer flicks the ball into the spinning wheel. For the committed player, a private with pre-registration, high-stakes poker tournament is scheduled for the backroom where great prizes are guaranteed.

When taking a break between bets, guests are encouraged to take part in the fabulous silent and live auctions. Music will fill the air as guests move to the rhythm of acclaimed DJ Adam Lipson. Palates will be pleased as guests savor a delicious buffet with an Irish twist.  Brooke USA’s White Party Goes Green with St. Patrick’s Day Casino Night is sure to be a spectacular event but more importantly it is an event to bring people together for the sake and welfare of the less fortunate - both people and equines.

Brooke USA’s White Party Goes Green with St. Patrick’s Day Casino Night is yet another milestone in Brooke USA’s amazing journey, raising over $2 million to date from the yearly signature event. What began as a humble nonprofit just six years ago has turned into an inspiring tale of what Board members, donors, and volunteers – all caring people - can do for those who are less fortunate. Join Brooke USA for a magnificent fun evening that “When You Play, Vulnerable Equine-Dependent Communities Win!”

Tickets to attend the Brooke USA’s White Party Goes Green are currently on sale at BrookeUSAEvents.org. Early Access General Admission tickets are currently $100 per person, while Children’s tickets are $50. Each ticket includes an Irish-themed buffet dinner as well as admission to the party; casino chips need to be purchased separately. Ticket prices increase to $125 per person on March 1, and $150 at the door on March 17.

Take the experience up a notch during the Brooke USA’s White Party Goes Green with a chic lounge overlooking the pool while enjoying appetizers and deluxe bottle service. Each lounge offers the perfect spot to gather privately, offering contemporary beauty, comfort, safety, and privacy. Lounges seat eight people, each one receiving the casino chips to jumpstart their lucky night.

Elevate the evening with a ticket or table at the Touch of Orange Dinner, presented by Lugano Diamonds, a deluxe five-star fine dining experience complete with gourmet action stations, it will not disappoint. Chef Brian Scotto of the Wellington National has created an over-the-top menu for the Touch of Orange Dinner. Guests receive gaming chips with ticket purchase.

Do not miss the opportunity to purchase your tickets to the soiree of the season. For more information on the event, or if you are interested in a sponsorship, please visit www.BrookeUSAEvents.org. 

Love supporting Brooke USA but can't attend this year's event?

Consider supporting our largest fundraiser of the year by becoming an event underwriter.

We are currently offering the following opportunities:

River Dancers (donation secured)

Welcome Drink - $2,000

Valet - $1,500

Music (donation secured)

VIP Gifting (donation secured)

Become an event underwriter with your 100% tax-deductible donation by making your gift at brookeusa.org/mydonation. 

Bid For A Cause: The 2022 Fundraising Initiative

During the Brooke USA's White Party Goes Green, guests will have the opportunity to help Brooke USA fund our Azolla Pit Initiatives in India. 

Azolla is an aquatic fern used as a nutritious feed supplement for equines and other livestock that grows in still water. It is rich in protein, essential amino acids, carotenoids, vitamins, growth promoters and minerals. Emergency funds allowed 376 Azolla pits to be constructed in intervention sites, and now we are raising funds to construct and grow this aquatic fern. 

“In our family, we take care of our animals like our children. During the lockdown, we struggled to provide them with adequate feed. Thanks to the Brooke India team, who came to our rescue, offering us a long-term solution. They provided us with a 50% subsidy to build an Azolla pit. In the past few months, we have found that Azolla is providing good yield and nutrition to our hardworking equines.” - Amarjit Singh, equine owner, Ambala, Haryana.

Lövsta Future Challenge Raises Funds & Awareness for Brooke USA Foundation & Our Fight to End the Donkey Hide Crisis

Lövsta Future Challenge, the renowned equestrian competition for Developing Grand Prix horses and for Under 25 riders, is going strong with their winter competition and helping to raise funds for Brooke USA Foundation as its equine charity partner during the 2022 Winter Equestrian Festival and Global Dressage. For each entry throughout the season, in jumping as well in dressage, Lövsta Future Challenge is donating $100.00 to Brooke USA.

The partnership with Lövsta Future Challenge provides Brooke USA with a platform to expand awareness of the donkey hide trade which is jeopardizing donkey populations all over the world. Half the world’s donkeys could be wiped out in the next five years, as millions are slaughtered to meet the rising demand for “ejiao”, a gelatin-like product used in traditional Chinese medicine and derived from boiling the hides of donkeys. Believed to improve blood circulation and treat conditions like anemia, infertility, and impotence, ejiao is found in powders, tonics cosmetics and even food products.

The demand for donkey hides is outstripping supply, creating a lucrative business for both producers and retailers. The emergence of the global trade of donkey hides is attributed to the rise of China’s middle class and increased perception of the medicine’s efficacy.

The sudden emergence of donkeys as a globally traded commodity has disrupted traditional cycles of use; around the world donkeys now are worth more dead than alive. This has raised the price of donkeys in some countries, making them unaffordable for many people who use them to take goods to market, cultivate land, and fetch water.

Communities that rely on donkeys for daily chores no longer have access to a resource that until recently was abundant and cheap. Adept at drawing heavy loads and temperamentally easy to handle, donkeys have supported vulnerable livelihoods globally for hundreds of years.

Learn more about the donkey hide crisis at brookeusa.org/ejiao-act.

Brooke USA Foundation Announces National Support for Efforts to Pass the Ejiao Act in Congress

Brooke USA Foundation (Brooke USA), a national nonprofit dedicated to significantly improving the health, welfare, and productivity of working horses, donkeys, and mules and the people who depend on them for survival worldwide, is pleased to announce the support of the American Wild Horse Campaign (AWHC) and American Horse PAC in the effort to promote passage of the Ejiao Act (H.R. 5203). The bill was introduced by U.S. Representative Don Beyer (D-VA) in September – marking a major step forward for Brooke USA and its effort to combat the brutal trade in donkey hides.

Ejiao (UH-gee-OW) is a gelatin derived from donkey hides that is used primarily in China for alternative medicine and beauty treatments. As the U.S. is the third-largest global importer of ejiao, the Ejiao Act is designed to restrict U.S. trade in all ejiao products made from donkey skins, which are decimating the species’ global population, subjecting donkeys to heinous abuse and slaughter, and threatening the impoverished families and communities who rely on them.

“We’re pleased to join with the Brooke USA Foundation to combat the brutal trade in donkey hides, which is creating a market for the slaughter of these innocent animals,” stated Suzanne Roy, Executive Director of AWHC. “In the U.S., we’re seeing a dramatic uptick in the number of wild burros entering the slaughter pipeline as a result of the federal government’s mass roundup policy and cash incentive adoption program, and we have serious concerns that many of these burros are being slaughtered for the ejiao trade.”

“The trade in ejiao poses a significant animal welfare concern that must be addressed,” stated Holly Gann Bice, Founder of American Horse PAC, the first federal political action committee dedicated to protecting wild and domestic equines. “We applaud U.S. Rep. Beyer and the Brooke USA Foundation for their work to put an end to the United States’ role in this cruel enterprise.”

Donkeys are cruelly slaughtered for the ejiao trade after enduring horrific suffering. Documentation has shown these animals being beaten, abused, and killed with sledgehammers. The demand for donkey skins in China has risen to approximately 8–10 million skins per year, but the country’s annual supply is less than 1.8 million, leading to the slaughter of donkey populations globally, particularly in Kenya, Ethiopia, Botswana, and Brazil. At the current rate, the present global donkey population of 44 million could be halved over the next five years. 

In the wild, research shows that burros play a critical role in the health of the desert ecosystems that they inhabit, digging wells and providing water sources for desert wildlife and plants. Meanwhile, domestic donkeys are valued as companions, guard animals for domestic livestock, and therapy animals. They are also crucial to the lives of more than 600 million people globally, many of them living in poverty. Around the world, donkeys undertake crucial daily tasks, such as fetching drinking water, taking products to market for sale, and transporting children to school. For families making less than two dollars a day, a donkey can be a lifeline.  Yet donkeys are often stolen and sold off for slaughter at ever-increasing prices, making it impossible for families to afford a replacement.

The ejiao trade also poses public health concerns. According to the OIE (World Organization for Animal Health), donkey farms likely originated the 2019 outbreak of Equine Influenza across West Africa, which most notably killed 62,000 animals in Niger. 

Building support for the bill and its implications on improving the livelihoods of people in vulnerable communities across the globe is a mammoth task and one that requires not only bi-partisan support from Congress but engagement from constituents all over the country. To this end, AWHC and American Horse PAC have endorsed the need for legislation banning the import and sale of ejiao in the United States.

“We are grateful to the support we are receiving and recognize that we cannot do it alone. We are delighted to have connected with AWHC and American Horse PAC to drive the bill forward. Although we all work on different programs, we have come together to aid these suffering animals who before slaughter (to produce ejiao) suffer immensely. They are transported for miles on end in overcrowded trucks, receive no food and water for days, are bashed and beaten by the workers, and forced to observe the slaughter of their companions,” explained Emily Dulin, Chief Executive Officer of Brooke USA.

AWHC is working closely with Brooke USA through their government relations team. AWHC is lobbying to build support in Congress for the Ejiao Act and urging their supporters to write and call their U.S. Representatives. American Horse PAC is also throwing its weight behind the issue to further increase congressional support and awareness.

The trade threatens wild burros, domestic donkeys in the U.S. and abroad, and because American demand is a driver of the ejiao trade, the United States is in a unique position to put a dent in the production of ejiao and support the welfare of the animals and the economic sustainability of people in developing countries. For more information on how to support the Ejiao Act, visit www.BrookeUSA.org/ejiao-act or visit www.americanwildhorsecampaign.org/demand-congress-sponsor-ejiao-act-stop-donkey-skin-trade.

Calling All Animal Lovers!

Join us in celebrating the finale of All Creatures Great and Small on Masterpiece!

The Perfect Christmas – Season Finale is Sunday, February 20th at 9 PM on WPBT and Wednesday, February 23rd at 9 PM on WXEL.

On the last episode of the season James and Helen question their future together in the run up to Christmas Day, while things look grave for one of Darrowby’s most beloved animals.

Enjoy All Creatures Great and Small, we know we do!

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