Join Brooke USA Continue June Homage to this Extraordinary Woman
Dorothy Brooke, the founder of the Brooke family of charities, including Brooke USA Foundation (Brooke USA), is a hero worth celebrating.
Each year during the month of June, Brooke USA pays homage to Dorothy and with just a few days to end the month, a myriad of activities, recognitions and interesting facts are being shared, including Brooke USA’s first Day of Giving on Sunday, June 30, a 24-hour fundraising marathon to raise $20,000.
“Dorothy Brooke is truly an inspiration to us all; proof that one person can set out to change the world and can make huge strides toward accomplishing that goal. She made ever-lasting contributions towards creating a better world for humans and animals alike,” said Emily Dulin, CEO of Brooke USA. “This why we honor Dorothy and invite friends and supporters to join in the activities and recognitions,” she added.
These are some ideas to celebrate Dorothy while helping Brooke USA achieve its mission of significantly improving the health, welfare and productivity of working horses, donkeys and mules and the people who depend on them for survival worldwide.
- Donate to Brooke USA’s Day of Giving to help Brooke East Africa train agrovets (those who work in rural farm and feed stores) in Kenya to provide veterinary diagnosis, manage simple surgical procedures and prescribe adequate and useful veterinary medications. This will allow sick and wounded animals to get safe and effective treatment at their local feed store. Donate at www.BrookeUSA.org/agrovets and learn how to increase the skills of community members and improve local resources while helping equines in need.
- Write a quote, take a photo, or film a video thanking Dorothy for her unselfish contributions to animal welfare. You can also wish her a Happy Birthday by baking a cake, blowing out some candles, or even singing her happy birthday. You can send your birthday wishes to info@BrookeUSA.org.
- Share Brooke USA’s June social media posts on Facebook (BrookeUSAonline), Instagram (Brooke_USA), and LinkedIn (Brooke USA) with friends, avid equestrians, and horse lovers. Be sure to tags #BrookeUSA and #WorkingEquines. Raising awareness for Brooke USA’s mission and for Dorothy’s incredible contributions is a great way to honor this extraordinary woman.
- Tell a young woman you know about Dorothy and her many achievements. She is an example to all, especially as she founded Brooke during a time when women were relegated to caring for their home and many housekeeping-related jobs. To note, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Women’s Right to Vote, was ratified in 1920 and only 10 years later, Dorothy was building the Brooke family of charities.
- Visit Brooke USA’s website at www.BrookeUSA.org to learn more about the work of the organization which contributes over $500,000 a year to help working equines in vulnerable communities all over the world. Programs funded train owners and communities on optimal husbandry and care.
- Purchase her autobiography, Dorothy Brooke and the Fight to Save Cairo’s Lost War Horses, by Grant Hayer-Menzies with the foreword by Brooke Global Ambassador Monty Roberts. Visit Amazon at www.amazon.com/Dorothy-Brooketo place an order.
About Dorothy Brooke:
Upon moving to Cairo, Egypt in 1930, Dorothy was inspired to rescue abandoned warhorses that were suffering from intolerably inhumane conditions. Fueled by her love of animals, she took it upon herself to help improve the lives of equine veterans that had been sold into hard labor after the end of the WW1. These horses had been born in the UK and were shipped overseas to serve in the war, but they had never been returned home, sold to Egyptian traders to live in cruel and deplorable conditions.
Mounting a campaign in 1931, Dorothy went on to find thousands of poorly and worn-out animals desperately in need of help. She raised funds to buy the horses from their owners, the first stage in lifting them out of a life of pain. Dorothy wrote a letter to the Morning Post (now, the Daily Telegraph) exposing their plight. The public were so moved they sent her the equivalent of $30,000 in today’s money to help end the suffering of these once proud horses.
Within three years, Dorothy had purchased five thousand former war horses. Dorothy knew thousands of hard-working horses, donkeys and mules were still out there suffering, so in 1934 she founded the Old War Horse Memorial Hospital in Cairo, with the promise of free veterinary care for all the city’s working horses and donkeys. And that is how the Brooke family of charities was born.
Dorothy dedicated her life to working behind the scenes to save the lives and improve the living conditions of thousands of equines by providing free veterinary care. Major General Geoffrey Brooke, Dorothy’s husband, praised her for her “exceptional ability and dauntless courage, never admitting defeat when confronted with obstacles that others would have found insuperable.” He added that “all horse lovers will appreciate how worthwhile was the task that Dodo [Dorothy] set herself, demanding prolonged and intense efforts to save thousands of unhappy animals, that had fallen on evil times.”
About Brooke USA Foundation (Brooke USA): The mission of Brooke USA is to significantly improve the health, welfare and productivity of working horses, donkeys and mules and the people who depend on them for survival worldwide. We are committed to sustainable economic development by reducing poverty, increasing food security, ensuring access to water, providing a means to education, and raising basic standards of living through improved equine health and welfare. We accomplish this by raising funds and responsibly directing them to the areas of greatest need.
Brooke USA strives to alleviate the suffering and vulnerability of developing communities by funding and implementing programs that improve the quality of life and health of working equines and thereby positively impacting their economic sustainability, protecting the planet, ensuring gender equality, and guaranteeing life on land resilience. We want to see healthy, happy people and equines that work in partnership to achieve sustainable local economies.
For more information:
Emily Dulin
305-505-6170
Emily.Dulin@BrookeUSA.org
Kendall Bierer
561-309-9873
Kendall.Bierer@BrookeUSA.org