These magnificent horses, once accustomed to all the comforts of a good life with lots of love and attention suddenly found themselves working on bustling streets and in the deep stone quarries, everything and everyone so familiar to them was suddenly gone.
Mrs Brooke and her husband were so horrified by the condition of these war-time heroes, they set out to end their suffering. One letter to the Morning Post (an English national newspaper of the time) raised the modern-day equivalent of twenty thousand pounds. Further letters followed and within three years the remaining five thousand cavalry horses and mules abandoned in Egypt had been bought for humane destruction.
Whenever possible Mrs Brooke would allow them a few days of luxury before they were put out of their misery. Then ended their days in peaceful and loving surroundings in the stables Mrs Brooke had bought for the purpose.
The Brooke Hospital continues to work in Egypt but now it's also working in Jordan, India and Pakistan. Whilst the countries in which they work may be different than in Mrs Brooke's time, the problems the animals suffer from are unfortunately very similar. In these countries, a whole family can rely on the income generated by a single horse or donkey. If that animal is too sick to work, the family will not have food until it's working again. In the daily fight for survival, the welfare of the animal is often overlooked.
The Brooke Hospital isn't like other animal charities, they never take an animal away from its owner. If they were to do that, it would be leaving the owner without any source of income for him or his family, which would be disastrous. Instead, they work to make life better for both, now and in the future.