Animal welfare groups including Brooke USA Foundation gathered outside Amazon’s headquarters in Virginia earlier this month to protest its sales of donkey skin products.
The group delivered a petition of over 370,000 signatures which asked the organisation to stop selling ejiao, a gelatin product used in traditional Chinese medicine and commonly found in cosmetics, which is obtained from boiling donkey skin.
It is estimated that five million donkeys are slaughtered every year in parts of China, Africa and South America for ejiao. The global demand for the skin trade is currently such that the donkey population will be decimated by almost 50% in the next five years.
“The international trade in donkey-hide gelatin products is leading to the mass slaughter of donkeys, resulting in widespread harm to impoverished communities around the world,” said Jim Hamilton, chairman of Brooke USA.
‘Remove all products’
“We should act immediately and help shut down this illicit trade that leads to substantial harm to humans and animals worldwide. The first step is to reduce the demand by shutting down product access. Amazon must set the example and remove all products containing ejiao from its online platform,” continued Jim.
The demonstration was preceded by a rally in Metropolitan Park by organisations including Eko, Brooke USA, Animal Welfare Institute and Humane Society Veterinary Medical Alliance.
“It’s outrageous that Amazon continues to allow the sale of ejiao products on its site, fully aware that donkeys are being stolen from families and then subjected to dehydration and broken bones, before being bludgeoned to death and skinned,” said Lacey Kohlmoos, senior campaign manager at Ekō, a community of people from around the world committed to curbing the growing power of corporations.
“I hope that today’s action and the outcry of over 370,000 people from around the world finally convinces the company to do the right thing for both the impacted families and the donkeys.”
Brooke USA and Brooke are calling for a global ban on the donkey skin trade, including a crackdown on cross-border trade which not only subjects animals to suffering, but destroys populations in countries who depend on them for their livelihoods.
In 2021, the Ejiao Act was reintroduced in the House of Representatives to ban the sale and trade of ejiao in the US, which Brooke USA is lobbying to be implemented. In February 2024, thanks to lobbying from Brooke and other animal welfare organisations, the African Union banned the donkey skin trade across their continent.
