The Brooke Hospital for Animals, Egypt (BHA Egypt) is an equine welfare organization dedicated to improving the lives of working horses, donkeys and mules.
The BHA began in Egypt in 1934 and our work has expanded to help working animals in poor urban and rural communities across the country. The goal of BHA Egypt is to reduce the pain and suffering of working equines in Egypt, with an underlying objective to sustainably improve the welfare of these animals within BHA Egypt’s operational area.
There are approximately 1,738,676 working equines in Egypt. (This figure is based on FAO estimates 2016, http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QA). Most of the working equines across Egypt carry out a wide range of work under very difficult conditions and are exposed to a high risk of poor animal welfare.
The majority of them are used for the transport of passengers such as tourist carts in Luxor, carrying loads such as domestic waste for vulnerable communities, and many thousands work in brick kilns such as those in Helwan near Cairo. The main welfare problems are overloading, beating, harness sores, mutilation, dehydration, heat stress, lameness, hoof problems and diseases such as equine influenza.
In Egypt, the programme has been focused on providing free veterinary treatment through static and mobile clinics. Over the past 10 years, additional activities have been undertaken such as community engagement - working in partnership with community-based organizations and other local resources such as Rural Guides. Staff capacity has been built on the use of welfare assessment methodologies to measure the improvement of animal welfare.
