Veterinary Care

brooke Veterinary Care

A significant part of Brooke's programs to improve equine welfare involves direct veterinary work, which aims to provide access to preventive and treatment services both in the short- and the long-term.

Brooke has its own dedicated veterinary and animal health teams around the world.  They provide free emergency, general, and preventative treatment to working horses, donkeys, and mules through static and mobile veterinary clinics; relief of pain is always our priority.

Brooke provides this short-term relief where no other veterinary services exist and where animal owners or other practitioners do not yet have the required level of skill.

This direct hands-on approach is an important part of Brooke's work to improve the welfare of animals with acute pain, injury, and disease and these teams strive to attain high quality levels of veterinary care using locally available medicines and equipment as much as possible.


This Brooke veterinarian in India is treating a donkey and discussing her care with her owners.

This Brooke veterinarian in India is treating a donkey and discussing her care with her owners.

Sustainable care in communities, changing lives

The long-term aim is to hand over responsibility to local veterinary services, so Brooke also works to develop the abilities of local government veterinarians, private veterinarians, and community-based animal health workers (CBAHWs) to provide good quality care. Brooke also works with communities owning horses and donkeys to increase their demand for these services. 

These measures and activities all help to ensure animal-owning communities can access sustainable, quality veterinary services, and build up treatment alternatives in communities.


A Brooke mobile veterinary team examines a working donkey

A Brooke mobile veterinary team examines a working donkey

Approach to Training

Brooke's approach consists of developing practical, field-based training based on local needs and resources, and innovative methods are used to great effect

Vets are encouraged to stay up-to-date with changes in advances in veterinary medicine and surgery (called Continuous Professional Development or CPD). This is equally important for Brooke vets in all programs.

Brooke strives to ensure that all clinical staff and those they train have relevant and up-to-date veterinary knowledge and skills which they can then pass on to others.  


Senior veterinary training teams in Brooke's program countries, assisted by the UK veterinary training team,  train vets and animal health workers within their programs and outside; this includes providing training courses for new vets and also refresher training (CPD) for others. Through this Brooke hopes to have all of their veterinary teams at a similar high level of knowledge and skills.

Much of Brooke's work now aims to improve the accessibility of quality veterinary services for poor communities.  This means that Brooke also focuses on providing training to these service providers, whether they are government or private vets, animal health technicians or community based animal health workers (CBAHWs).

Brooke's community approach means training local people as animal health workers so they can diagnose common problems and provide first-aid with supplies of basic equipment.

Brooke also trains local healers, vets, farriers, saddlers, feed sellers, harness and cart makers.

Brooke also places a very high importance on scientific research to ensure that they are providing the best training, services, and care possible. Read more about Brooke's scientific research.