My Cause

The Mission: To Significantly Improve The Welfare Of Working Horses, Donkeys And Mules And The People They Serve Throughout Asia, Africa, The Middle East, The Americas And The Caribbean By Raising Funds And Responsibly Directing Them To The Areas Of Greatest Need.

About the Organization: Brooke USA raises funds to support a wide variety of programs for working horses, donkeys and mules to help them become (and remain) healthy and happy now and in the long-term, which also benefits the very poor families who depend on those animals to help them earn a living.

With Your Help We Can Reduce The Immediate Suffering Of The World’s Most Vulnerable Working Horses, Donkeys And Mules, Achieve Global Impact, And Make Sustainable Improvements.

Our History:

On arrival in Egypt in 1930, Dorothy Brooke was horrified to see hundreds of emaciated horses being used as beasts of burden on the streets of Cairo.

The wife of a British army major general, Dorothy Brooke was appalled to learn that these walking skeletons were ex-warhorses of the British, Australian and American forces. Poorly cared for, they were all very old and many were in terrible pain.

All of them had seen service in the First World War. When the conflict ended in 1918, they were sold into a life of hard labor in Cairo.

Mrs. Brooke was tormented by their plight, and wrote a letter to Britain’s leading newspaper, the Morning Post (which later became the Daily Telegraph) describing the suffering of these poor old war heroes. Showing immense generosity, the British public sent in the equivalent of £20,000 in today's money to help.

Within three years, Dorothy Brooke had set up a committee and bought five thousand of these ex-warhorses. Most were old and in the final stages of collapse, and had to be humanely put down. But, thanks to her compassion and tenacity, all of them ended their lives peacefully.

Dorothy Brooke knew that her work could not end there while thousands of horses, donkeys and mules still suffered.

In 1934, Dorothy Brooke founded the ‘Old War Horse Memorial Hospital’ in Cairo, with the promise of free veterinary care for all the city’s working horses and donkeys and Brooke Hospital for Animals was born.

Brooke has worked in Egypt since 1934 to bring relief to suffering working horses and donkeys. Today, in Cairo, the original hospital established by Mrs. Brooke still stands. It now boasts all the modern veterinary equipment needed by vets to treat working animals today.

From humble beginnings, Brooke has grown into an international equine lifesaver, with mobile vet teams plus an extensive community animal health program, bringing veterinary care and training to some of the world’s poorest communities. Brooke USA is proud to fund the programs of Brooke worldwide.