Target: Randolph Frederich Rodrigues, Government Leader of Brazil National Congress
Goal: Advocate for ban on slaughter of donkeys and on donkey skin trade.
A shocking 6 million donkeys are stolen every year, and most are bound for brutal slaughter. These animals are being targeted for their hides, with demand in China’s traditional medicine and beauty industries driving much of the slaughter. The donkeys endure inhumane treatment throughout their captivity until their eventual brutal deaths. And the effects spread to human abuses as well. Thieves often steal domesticated donkeys from poor families that use these animals as work companions. The thefts cripple these struggling families’ finances and compound oppression of girls and women who are then forced to replace the donkeys as laborers.
Since donkey populations have been so severely depleted in the land where they were most populous, China, other regions of the world are now bearing the consequences of the donkey skin trade. The African continent recently introduced a comprehensive ban on this horrific practice. Brazil, which has seen its donkey population plumet by an alarming 93 percent, has the opportunity to enact a similar safeguard.
Sign the petition below to demand leaders pass a proposal that could protect the lives of domesticated donkeys and the livelihoods of impoverished communities.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Congressman Rodrigues,
The donkey skin trade is one of the most destructive – and one of the most unregulated – enterprises on the planet. It has helped fuel the alarming disappearances of donkeys in Brazil over the past three decades. It has accelerated poverty and gender inequality. And it has dealt a major blow to global sustainable development goals.
The many nations of Africa took assessment of the damage inflicted and united to enact a continent-wide ban on this egregious trade. The representatives of the Brazilian people – and of the most impoverished communities that stand to lose up to three-quarters of their household income – have the chance to join Africa in saying ‘no more.’ Pass the bill banning donkey slaughter and finally hold donkey skin traders accountable for the harm they have caused.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Pixabay
