Leading Wild Horse and Burro Organization Applauds the Reintroduction of the Ejiao Act to End Donkey Skin Trade

Leading Wild Horse and Burro Organization Applauds the Reintroduction of the Ejiao Act to End Donkey Skin Trade

(WASHINGTON D.C., Sept. 23, 2025): Today, American Wild Horse Conservation commends Representative Don Beyer (D-VA) for reintroducing the Ejiao Act, aimed at ending the United State’s role in the donkey skin trade for the production of ejiao, gelatin found in some traditional medicine and beauty products.

Each year, millions of donkeys are killed to fuel this global industry, leaving rural communities across Africa, Asia, and South America without the working animals they depend on for survival. The United States remains one of the top importers of ejiao products, complicit in driving both the cruelty and the devastating impact on people and ecosystems abroad.

“The donkey skin trade is a humanitarian and animal welfare crisis,” said Suzanne Roy, executive director of American Wild Horse Conservation. “At the same time, America’s wild burros are already at risk of entering the slaughter pipeline. This legislation is a critical step to ensure that both domestic donkeys and wild burros worldwide are spared from this cruel and senseless fate.”

“The trade and production of ejiao is an inhumane and dangerous business that is leading to the mass slaughter of donkeys and causing widespread harm to impoverished communities around the world,” said Rep. 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. Our bill would ensure the United States does not engage in the ejiao trade in any capacity and instead supports safer, more cost effective, and humane alternatives.”

The Ejiao Act would prohibit the import, export, sale, and transport of ejiao and donkey skins in the United States. By shutting down U.S. markets for ejiao, Congress has the opportunity to make a powerful stand for animal welfare, rural livelihoods, and global conservation.

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About American Wild Horse Conservation

American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) is the nation's leading nonprofit wild horse conservation organization, with more than 700,000 supporters and followers nationwide. AWHC is dedicated to preserving the American wild horse and burros in viable, free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage. In addition to advocating for the protection and preservation of America's wild herds, AWHC implements the largest wild horse fertility control program in the world through a partnership with the State of Nevada for wild horses that live in the Virginia Range near Reno.