Tell Amazon to Stop Supporting the Donkey Skin Trade

UPDATE: In December of 2023, Amazon settled the lawsuit brought by The Center for Contemporary Equine Studies and agreed to stop selling ejiao in California. This is a step in the right direction but we need to keep the pressure on to make sure Amazon stops selling this cruel, destructive product once and for all.

Species Unite has been working tirelessly to draw attention to the horrors of the donkey skin trade, an international crisis that is impoverishing families in the global south and causing the collapse of the world’s donkey population. Five million donkeys are killed each year in this brutal trade, and the numbers are steadily going up. Donkeys only give birth to one foal a year, and at this rate of slaughter, they are at risk of going extinct within just four years.

The donkeys trapped in this horrific industry are often beaten to death with sledgehammers and sometimes skinned alive so that their hides can be turned into a gelatin referred to as ejiao and used in pseudoscientific Chinese medicine. Thankfully, as awareness of this issue has grown, governments are starting to take action. In February 2024, the African Union banned the donkey skin trade, making it illegal to slaughter donkeys for their skins throughout all of Africa.

The United States will hopefully follow suit and pass “The Ejiao Act,” a bill that will make the import and purchase of products containing donkey skin gelatin illegal in the U.S. However, while this important legislation must first be reintroduced in order to be passed by the119th Congress, right now we have the power to hold private businesses accountable for participating in and supporting this unthinkable cruelty.

American consumers can currently buy products containing donkey skin gelatin (ejiao) on Amazon Prime. Multiple sellers offer items containing this product, derived from the kidnapping, torture, and killing of innocent donkeys. This is unacceptable.

But the world is starting to take notice. In California, the law firm Evans & Page has filed a legal complaint on behalf of The Center for Contemporary Equine Studies, alleging that Amazon's sale of ejiao violates the Prohibition of Horse Slaughter and Sale of Horse Meat for Human Consumption Act, a California animal welfare law. The law, which came into effect in 1998, prohibits the sale of horsemeat for human consumption. The Center argues that the law applies to all equine animals, including donkeys, and therefore prohibits the sale of ejiao in the state. If a court finds Amazon guilty, the company could be fined $1 million for every day an ejiao product is sold in the state of California.

Take Action Now

Please join Species Unite in calling on Amazon to prohibit the sale of ejiao - take a stand for the innocent animals that are being stolen and slaughtered.