For more information, contact:
Emily Dulin
305-505-6170
Emily.Dulin@BrookeUSA.org
Kendall Bierer
561-309-9873
Kendall.Bierer@BrookeUSA.org
Dorothy Brooke: A Hero Worth Celebrating
Join Brooke USA in Honoring its Founder and Celebrating its 10th Year Anniversary
(Lexington, KY – June 12, 2025) – Dorothy Brooke, the founder of the Brooke family of charities, including Brooke USA Foundation (Brooke USA), was born June 1,1883 and the charity has designated June as a month-long celebration. At the same time, Brooke USA celebrates its 10th Anniversary throughout 2025.
As Brooke USA pays homage to Dorothy, a myriad of activities, recognitions and interesting facts are being shared, including Brooke USA’s second Day of Giving on Monday, June 30, a 24-hour fundraising marathon to raise $20,000 with a matching gift of $10,000 from supporters Vicky and Eric Busch. Vicky was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of Brooke USA.
“The fact that our work continues today is a remarkable tribute to Dorothy Brooke’s power and personality, and to her memory. At the heart of our story is Dorothy Brooke’s love and respect for horses and her boundless compassion. This powerful combination enabled her to achieve remarkable things and create an inspiring legacy that has blossomed into one of the most far-reaching and effective equine welfare charities today,” explained Vicky.
Brooke USA celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2025, marking this occasion by paying tribute to its founder who shaped the early years of the Brooke Hospital for the Animals in Egypt. “We strive to continually honor Dorothy’s spirit. Some things have not changed since the beginning in 1934,” noted Jim Hamilton, DVM, Chairman of Brooke USA. Dorothy always respected the challenges faced by the owners of working equines, understanding that the people face comparable hardships and difficult choices. She also understood that simply taking the animal away would not result in lasting change. One equine would be replaced with another only to experience the same treatment as its predecessor.
“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,” 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 at www.BrookeUSA.org/mydonation. Any amount helps reach the $20,000 and more importantly, every donation is used toward helping humans and animals in vulnerable communities worldwide.
- 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. Just check out Brooke USA’s Facebook page for inspiration.
- 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 use the tags – #BrookeUSA, #WorkingEquines and #DorothyBrooke. 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, today the largest global nonprofit dedicated to helping working equines and the families and that depend on them.
- 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 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-Brooke to 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.”
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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.