On Sunday, 15 June 2025, we marked the tenth International Working Animal Day – a global awareness day launched by SPANA in 2016, to spotlight the immense yet often unrecognised contribution of working animals across the world. This year’s theme, ‘Working Animals: Lifelines in a Water-Stressed World’, brought attention to a growing crisis affecting both animals and people alike – the global water emergency.
Working Animals: The Beating Heart of Their Communities
Across arid regions of the world, from the deserts of Mauritania to the drought-stricken plains of northern Kenya, donkeys, horses, mules, and camels are more than beasts of burden, they are lifelines. They carry water over long, punishing distances, enabling survival where taps run dry, infrastructure fails, and the gender divide hurts. In many cases, these animals are the only way families, especially women and children, can access safe water at all.
Yet ironically, while they deliver water, working animals are often ‘invisible’ to governments, and at the community level, they are the last to receive the water they deliver.
The escalating climate crisis, pollution, and underfunded infrastructure have created an environment where clean water is increasingly scarce. This jeopardises not just human communities, but the very animals that sustain them.
A Different Lens: Celebrating Resilience and Compassion
Rather than focusing solely on suffering, this year SPANA took a fresh, affirmative approach: one that honours the human-animal bond, spotlights positive stories of care, and shares the perspectives of those closest to the ground – working animal owners and frontline partner staff.
Through poignant new photo essays, videos, and case studies from Mauritania, we brought forward the voices of those navigating the water crisis daily. These stories show not only hardship, but also resilience, ingenuity, and empathy – from owners who share their limited water rations with their donkeys, to community-led efforts that prioritise animal care as central to human welfare.
Our Work: Making a Difference Where It Matters Most
At SPANA, transforming the welfare of working animals is more than a mission; it’s a moral imperative. We respond to emergencies, by providing critical aid: mobile vet clinics, feeding stations, water troughs, and treatment for exhausted animals.
But emergency response is just one piece. We are investing in long-term, systemic change:
• Policy advocacy, including calls for governments to adopt inclusive water management strategies, like Multiple Use Water Services schemes that account for both human and animal needs.
• Community education that empowers owners with knowledge and tools for preventive care.
• Partnerships with local NGOs, veterinary services, and governments to strengthen the capacity for sustainable animal welfare support.
Looking Forward: Turning Awareness Into Action
International Working Animal Day is a moment of reflection; but more importantly, it’s a call to action. That’s why SPANA continues to encourage governments worldwide to integrate animal needs into their water strategies, especially as droughts become more frequent and severe. We must ensure that the animals who sustain communities are not left behind.
You can still be part of this change. Whether by supporting our Kenya drought appeal, sharing our stories on social media, or simply spreading the word, your voice matters.
We are deeply grateful to all our supporters, ambassadors, and ICWE partners who are helped amplify this campaign, including a heartfelt op-ed by actor Jim Broadbent reflecting on his family’s historic ties to SPANA. Together, we can inspire meaningful change for working animals.
Let us honour these unsung heroes – with words, and with actions that guarantee their place in a just, sustainable future for all.
Because when working animals thrive, communities thrive.
By Mwenda Mbaka, SPANA Trustee
