Egypt Equine Aid evolved from a visit to Egypt by Australian’s Jill and Warren Barton in 2013. They were so shocked at the plight of the horses around the pyramids that they returned to Australia (where they were planning semi-retirement), sold the family home to fund the project and Jill returned to live in Egypt and run EEA in 2014.

A farm was rented 20 mins away from the pyramids and a vet employed. Those first years were extremely difficult with very little infrastructure and no equipment but within days 10 animals had been rescued and free vet care was being offered to all. The accommodation not even having a proper roof was less than adequate for more years to come as the priority was given to building the hospital basics. It soon became apparent that vets were given very little training in equine and Jill soon realised that training fresh graduate vets would be the best way to help the greatest number of horses even reaching into the smallest villages.

In these past ten years EEA’s reputation for high standards has made us a very much sought after training centre with more than 300 students applying for training in 2024. Thanks to our supporters and an initial grant from the Australian Embassy in Cairo we are now quite well equipped with x-ray, ultrasound, blood analysers, endoscope, electric dental equipment autoclave etc.

We currently have a staff of more than twenty five with 6 full time vets, 4 Vet assistants and two farriers all trained at EEA with most of our vets starting as fresh graduates. We have many former trainees and employees out working in the field and in the pyramid area. We are especially pleased to see our former trainees carry on the procedures and standards taught to them at EEA.

EEA also runs the only farrier apprenticeship scheme and have the first donkey specific hospital in Egypt. Some of our rescued horses have gone on to become the first resident equine therapy horses in the middle east and we maintain a lovely herd of free ranging rescued horses and donkeys on another property. Our farriers are now helping zoo animal’s feet also in our work with the Giza Zoo.

We have been involved in helping many other animals including a lion cub (now living in South Africa) monkeys, foxes and the occasional goat or bird as well as providing TNR (Trap Neuter Release of cats and dogs) on a small scale. We have helped many other start-up projects to get on their feet and work with professional colleagues around the world including Animals Australia, World Veterinary services, Save the Asian Elephant (Law reform) and PETA all of us with the same goal of exposing and eradicating animal abuse in all its forms. We have a professional board including a lawyer, accountant and vets. We are a fully registered and accredited Australian charity. Australian donations are fully tax deductable.

We accept volunteer vets from around the world who are amazed at the variety and number of patients we deal with. In 2023 we helped more than 1000 inpatients and around 3,000 outpatients. All of which have notes and records kept. In 2023 a paper was published based on statistics taken from our records.

Our dream is to purchase our own land to ensure the future of EEA with UK vet Phoebe Dugdale ready to take the helm.