Our impact

For over a century, we have been dedicated to transforming the lives of working animals and supporting the people who depend on them. We work with partners across the world to increase access to skills, knowledge and resources – and campaign for policy change – so we can build a world where working animals are healthy and valued, communities are stronger and livelihoods are more secure.

2025 was a year filled with milestone achievements for working animal welfare and our organisation. Throughout the year, our work remained firmly rooted in our strategy and guided by our three core goals: Welfare, Worth and World.

Here are some of our achievements from 2025, all made possible thanks to our partners, donors and supporters:

• We reached 559,982 working animals
• We developed the knowledge and skills of 163,287 animal owners
• We inspired 82,849 school children
• We distributed 17,873 pieces of equipment
• We launched six emergency projects.

For over a century we have been dedicated to transforming the lives of working animals globally, and 2025 was no different. Across the countries we work in, we were able to reach:

• 288,022 donkeys
• 139,851 horses
• 85,114 oxen
• 22,836 mules
• 17,318 camels
• 2,216 buffalo.

Additionally, we:

• Provided 524,170 preventative measures to working animals
• Distributed 17,873 pieces of equipment to working animals and their owners
• Trialled a quality-of-life (QOL) assessment tool to measure the QOL status of working animals in our projects. This will help us understand where positive animal welfare impact is needed most
• Strengthened our partnership with Addis Ababa University College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture in Ethiopia. As part of this, we started working together to protect camels in the country for the first time
• Increased skills-based opportunities through online resources, including an online donkey clinical club for veterinarians and technicians to learn more about donkey orthopaedic challenges and pain management.

Working donkeys, horses, camels, mules and other animals are the quiet, driving force behind countless communities, helping millions of people earn a living, access food and water, and reach hospitals, work or school. But so often their contribution is overlooked. Through our work, we want to ensure that working animals are recognised and valued.

In 2025, we helped working animals get the recognition they deserve. Alongside our partners we:

• Supported 163,287 animal owners to build the skills and knowledge to look after working animals with confidence and care
• Reached 82,849 schoolchildren through our education programme which helps children develop positive attitudes towards working animals and practical skills in animal care
• Trained educators on working animal welfare concepts, to support them in their roles as they run animal care clubs in their schools
• Advocated for working animals to be included in Mauritania’s national census for the first time, ensuring the welfare needs of working animals are visible in government policies.

Our third goal is for the world of working animals to thrive and grow sustainably as part of the link between animals, people and the environment.

This is known as the One Health approach, and is a concept that recognises that the health of animals, people and the environment are all connected. If one suffers, all three suffer.

In the countries where we work, we adopt a ‘do no harm’ approach, meaning we focus on improving the lives of working animals in ways that also support the communities who depend on them and the environment they live in.

One way we do this is through our emergency intervention projects. In 2025, we launched six emergency projects in Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, helping more than 2,707 donkeys and camels affected by disasters and disease.

We also continued to be the voice for working animals through our advocacy work, working alongside our coalition partners to move working animal welfare up the global agenda through:

The inclusion of animals in the World Health Organization Pandemic Agreement so that they are no longer an afterthought in pandemic planning

Attending the Pan-African Donkey Conference where delegates reaffirmed their commitment to Africa’s ban on the donkey skin trade by endorsing a declaration to preserve Africa’s donkeys and uphold the continent-wide ban.

Our goals of Welfare, Worth and World are underpinned by a fourth, enabling goal: Harnessing our global potential. This goal is crucial to build our reputation and effectiveness as a pioneering, modern and global organisation, while delivering transformative change for working animal welfare.

In 2025, we worked on this enabling goal to help us reach new levels of innovation and efficiency, which allowed us to:

• Trial and develop new fundraising activities, including a new weekly lottery and virtual gifts catalogue
• Secure 180 pieces of media coverage
• Potentially reach 336 million people through the media.