Every year, approximately five million donkeys suffer and die to fuel the ejiao trade — a gelatin made from donkey hides used in cosmetics and other products. To make ejiao, donkeys are often stolen from their owners and transported thousands of miles to slaughter. During this journey, there is no access to food or water. Some donkeys suffer the entire journey with severed hooves or legs. Then, they are killed for their skin, their lives and bodies discarded like trash.
Last year, US lawmakers reintroduced the Ejiao Act in the House of Representatives, which would erradicate ejiao and its cruel production methods from the market. However, it has not yet been passed, allowing the suffering to continue and companies like Amazon to profit from it.
Sign the petition to urge Congress to pass the Ejiao Act to stop this horrific cruelty!
The cruelty is nearly too much to bear. If a donkey is sick or even maimed, its hide is still suitable to sell in the skin trade. That means that handlers do not have to treat donkeys humanely. The only thing they care about is profits. They drag them by their ears and tails. No donkey is safe, from heavily pregnant mares to the sick and injured. Even young foals are not spared.
The slaughter of donkeys not only hurts the animals, but their owners as well. Donkeys support millions of people across the globe, and a donkey used ethically to transport goods, water, or people can mean the difference between death and survival. Often, women and children are impacted the most when a donkey is stolen.
Amazon continues to profit from this brutality, despite growing global condemnation and other companies, like eBay, taking the ethical road and banning ejiao sales on its platform. If Amazon won't do the right thing on its own, it must be forced to do so through the law. Action is needed now more than ever.
Sign the petition to demand Congress pass the Ejiao Act and ensure no more donkeys suffer from this brutal trade!
