Pets vs Production
- Bray Club Arizona
- May 7
- 9 min read
Donkeys are pets, because donkeys deserve better:
Generally, when sorting domestic animals, most people think of pets vs livestock, and into those categories will draw the line at “house pets” vs “farm animals.” But it gets a little more nebulous than that. A better delineation is typically “companion animals” and “production animals”
Companion animals are animals that people have and keep simply for the joy of having and keeping them. They may or may not be purpose bred (off track thoroughbreds), or specially trained (bird dogs), but the animal’s main purpose is providing the owner with companionship and enrichment. The animal will generally still be kept even if it can’t perform any sort of job or function, its care and appreciation is not based conditionally upon its ability to have a job or function. These include house pets like dogs, cats, fish, reptiles, but also some livestock species such as pleasure horses, chickens, goats, miniature pigs, cattle, alpacas, etc.
Production animals, on the other hand, are animals which are kept for the purpose of producing something of economic value for the animal owner. Most often people consider livestock production animals, and in the US livestock is generally producing meat, milk, fiber, or propulsion. In this case one might think of production animals as dairy cows/goats, beef cattle, pigs, chicken (meat and eggs), sheep (wool), draft horses (Amish plow horses). However, there are many other types of production animals beyond just those creating our food and clothing.
So what are production animals, if not livestock?
Production animals are an economic commodity. They are generally kept for the length of time it takes to reach peak economic profitability. This will be different for different species: a fat beef steer is slaughtered around 18 months old, but a dairy cow is kept for several years of milking before being slaughtered when production of milk wanes beyond her return on investment. These animals are kept and fed in a way that maximizes profits, meaning they are kept healthy enough to serve their purpose (you cannot legally slaughter a visibly ill or non-ambuatory bovid for public consumption/sale in the US, for instance), however they are still kept in conditions that do often cause increased disease and decreased natural lifespan in order to minimize costs to the producer.
Many people, when asked to sort “companion animals” (we will be using “pets” going forward) from “production animals” will tend to sort house pets from “farm animals” but the line isn’t always so clear.
For instance, many people would consider a dog to be a pet. However puppy mill breeding stock, as well as laboratory stock are both considered production animals. They will be culled (generally euthanized) when they are no longer producing. Many would say a guinea pig or rabbit is a pet, but they are often used for meat, and lab testing, (and sometimes fiber or hide). Chickens tend to be more known in the gray area: as backyard poultry keeping grows in popularity, most people see their backyard flock as pets, they often don’t eat them, or cull them when production of eggs slows down. Rodents like mice and rats are pets, but also used in laboratory settings and as feed for reptiles and birds. Horses can be production animals, like the amish plow horses, discarded when they can’t pull anymore, or race horses, that are very often sent to auction after their racing or breeding days are over, or premarin mares, who produce hormone replacement drugs, and their foals who are discarded at birth. Many people also keep goats, pigs, cattle, and more as pets. These people may have originally purchased the animal for production, and either the owner opted out of that production eventually, or the animal has stopped producing and is kept as a pet.
The concept of having and housing “pet” livestock has grown as mechanization and more specialized production agriculture grew, and as people had the extra funds to keep animals simply for their own personal enjoyment.
So where does all this loop back to donkeys? Donkeys exist in the gray area, like many livestock species these days.
In developing countries (Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America), per SPANA: “There are an estimated 42 million working donkeys that in low-income countries are being used to do jobs of trucks, tractors and cars. These animals support the livelihoods and other domestic needs of people living within vulnerable communities where vehicle ownership for most is unattainable.” Because the keeping of production livestock is a constant balancing act between economic input and output “Donkeys in low-income countries can have tough lives because of poor welfare standards if their owners do not have the following resources available in their communities:
Knowledge of how to best care for for working donkeys
Safe and proper equipment to work donkeys without causing injury
Access to farriery services for general donkey hoof care
Veterinary services available if a donkey becomes ill or injured
“It is not uncommon to find working donkeys suffering from many welfare-related problems, including wounds, poor body condition, respiratory diseases, parasites, a poor dental condition, and lameness Welfare problems do not stop with physical ailments; many working donkeys experience compromised mental states, such as a fear of humans and even depression. Poor welfare is commonly associated with working donkeys in Africa and the Middle East. Their poor welfare has been linked to both harsh working conditions and to handlers with insufficient knowledge of general husbandry and properly caring for working donkeys, such as wound management, harness care and fitting, watering, nutritional requirements, appropriate shelter arrangements, and veterinary”
While SPANA is speaking specifically to developing countries, anyone who has visited a sale barn can attest to similar problems occurring in the United States.
Additionally, there is a new emerging market for production donkeys:
“The international trade in donkey-hide gelatin products is leading to the mass slaughter of donkeys and widespread harm to impoverished communities around the world, and Congress should take action to halt all importation of those products into this country,” said [Rep. Don] Beyer. “More and more people in poorer countries are seeing animals upon which they depend stolen and killed to meet demand from the ejiao trade. The United States should take action and help shut down this illicit trade that leads to substantial harm to humans and animals worldwide.”
Ejiao is a gelatin used in Chinese medicine, cosmetics, and other luxury products. While it traditionally involves boiling donkey skins, other meats, fish or plants can be used as an alternative. According to one study, at current rates half of the world’s population of donkeys would need to be slaughtered in the next five years to keep up with market demand.”
“And it is big business. According to China-Africa relations scholar Prof Lauren Johnston, from the University of Sydney, the Ejiao market in China increased in value from about $3.2bn (£2.5bn) in 2013 to about $7.8bn in 2020.”... “Faith Burden, the Donkey Sanctuary's deputy chief executive, calls the donkey skin trade "unsustainable and inhumane".
Using donkeys as production animals isn’t limited to outside the US. Domestically the most common “job” for donkeys is livestock guardian. They are used by farmers to protect their flocks or herds against predators. Farmers and ranchers choose donkeys because they are seen as expendable and inexpensive to replace. The calf or lambs (or even chickens) that would be otherwise killed by the coyotes/mountain lions/wolves are saved when the predator instead encounters the donkey and is either fought off by the donkey or the donkey is killed by the predator, thereby negating it’s need to kill the livestock considered “valuable.”
Donkeys are also often used in spectator entertainment, such as donkey basketball - popular in the midwest as school fundraisers-, where animals, typically very small standards or large minis, are rented out to be “ridden” (more accurately slopped upon) around a slick gym floor by people who often are of similar or equal weight to the donkey they are riding. In most cases you can see the owner of the donkeys standing by on the sidelines with a crop or whip which is used to hit scared and painful animals to move about the unsafe floor while stands full of people jeer (hopefully out of ignorance, not malice). These animals are often dumped at an auction when the gigs dry up, they’re injured, or feed costs rise. Many animals will leave the auction bound for slaughter for the aforementioned ejiao.
Similarly, in the western US and Texas, where BLM sale authority animals are cheap and easy to come by, you’ll see donkey roping and donkey tripping. Much the same as team roping with cattle, the donkeys are run at full speed, then roped around the throat and legs and snatched to a stop. In roping the goal is to keep them balanced on their front feet, stretched between two ropes, while in tripping the goal is to jerk their feet out from under them and cause a fall. These activities routinely end in broken necks and legs, and the donkeys losing their lives.
Calf training is another “job” given to donkeys, where a leather strap is tied around their neck, and a beef calf of, typically, equal or greater weight, is tied to the strap and allowed to flail and pull against the donkey’s neck for whatever amount of time it takes to consider the calf “halter broke.” Typically this lasts anywhere from a couple hours to days. The same is often done for horse foals. Obviously this can also result in broken necks, as well as broken ribs and legs as the young animals try to get away, and charge or kick the donkey.
But what about the economic factors of grouping donkeys as production livestock? As we said before, production livestock is constantly working to maximize economic gain, as with any business. This means the goal is as little cost input as possible, while maximizing economic output. For donkeys, who are very often extremely cheap to come by ($25 from BLM) that means that in the view of production livestock, a donkey is not worth more than $25 plus the gas it took to pick it up. For comparison, the average price for a single 500 lb calf on 2/7/25 was $344.55 (5). If the donkey is not in any way trained, as all the production animals listed above are not trained, the animal is considered to be “worth” $25-$100. Often this will result in little desire to care for or maintain that animal correctly, due to this perceived “low value.” Feet are not trimmed, proper diet is not maintained - especially in the case of guardians, vaccines are not administered, teeth are not floated or maintained, and the animal will most often live a life that is, at best, sub-optimal and shortened. This is all assuming there is no dramatic injury like a broken leg or neck, or a mountain lion attack.
What’s the point of delving so deep into the semantics of “pets” (companion animals) and “livestock” (production animals) when discussing donkeys, and why does BRAY choose to refer to them as pets? We feel that due to their perceived “low value” their welfare, health, and safety is severely compromised when donkeys are referred to as production livestock in the US and around the world. They very often receive unacceptable husbandry that is not consistent with the care and quality of life deserved by these wonderful animals. We believe that when they are considered to be pets rather than production livestock it is more likely that bills and laws can be passed prohibiting the import of ejiao products, which will help stem the flow of donkeys into the slaughter pipeline both at home and abroad. We believe that in framing them as pets, prospective owners and the general public are more likely to see their value as companion animals. By calling them pets we hope people will understand that while they do come with a comparatively low initial price tag for equids, they are not inexpensive animals to care for, if that care is species-appropriate and sufficient.
The reality is, with the cost of land, fencing materials, feed, and vet care only rising, these animals are becoming increasingly expensive to keep. As such, even animals who perform tasks that may earn remuneration for the owner, it is often likely not going to be enough to cover the proper care and keeping of the animal. We believe that in calling them pets, people are more likely to understand the responsibility that comes with an animal with a 40+ year lifespan, that they are not a fad and not disposable. Also, because they are such personable animals, who bond so closely with their owners and herd mates, we feel it does them a disservice and sets them up for failure if their care is contingent upon the animal earning sufficient money to pay their bills. This is very similar to other companion animals such as cats or dogs. Rarely does a dog owner, and even less often a cat owner, keep their animal if, and only if, that animal is bringing in money to the household.
As we always say: donkeys are incredible animals. They are smart, fun, and cute. They make wonderful partners in all sorts of adventures and activities. They bring smiles to the faces of everyone they meet. They are so much more than the weight they can pull, the money they can fetch, or the gelatin in their skin. They are not a widget to be monetized. They are living, feeling, loving animals. They are pets. They are beloved family members. They are not production livestock. Donkeys deserve better.
https://mdpi-res.com/bookfiles/book/10481/Advances_in_Donkey_and_Mule_Research.pdf?v=1739221244 pg 278 Welfare Assessment and Identification of the Associated Risk Factors Compromising the Welfare of Working Donkeys (Equus asinus) in Egyptian Brick Kilns
