The global donkey skin trade is a commercial industry that kills millions of donkeys each year to harvest their skins for the production of ejiao, a gelatin made by boiling donkey hides and sold for use in traditional medicine, supplements, and cosmetics.
An estimated 5.9 million donkeys are slaughtered annually, placing extreme pressure on a global donkey population of approximately 53 million. Investigations and veterinary reports show that donkeys are frequently stolen from families, transported long distances without food or water, and killed outside regulated slaughterhouses, often with no veterinary oversight or welfare inspection.
Reports describe donkeys being beaten, killed with blunt instruments, or skinned while still conscious due to the absence of humane stunning and enforcement of basic animal welfare standards. Despite the severity of this abuse, donkeys often fall into legal gaps and are not fully protected under animal welfare or livestock laws, allowing extreme cruelty to continue with little accountability.
By signing this petition, you are calling on governments and international authorities to recognise skinning donkeys alive as torture under the law, strengthen penalties for those who carry out or profit from this cruelty, and close legal loopholes that allow unregulated slaughter and trafficking.
