The battlefield is a perilous place for animals, and the war in Gaza has been no exception. After Karen Menczer, founder and director of Animal-Kind International (AKI), started seeing footage of malnourished donkeys and horses being used by Gazans to transport heavy loads during the conflict, the animal rights activist in New Mexico was determined to help.

AKI’s Animal Welfare Organization Grant Program typically funds initiatives in Africa. But under Menczer’s direction, the organization approved a $3,000 grant last August for Starting Over Sanctuary (SOS) on Moshav Herut in central Israel—“just a little further north” than Africa, Menczer said.

The sanctuary, founded by longtime animal caretaker Sharon Cohen, rehabilitates abused, neglected or abandoned animals and runs onsite educational programs for children. SOS spends about $185,000 per month to care for some 1,600 creatures, including 1,000 donkeys and 100 horses, the majority rescued from Arab or Bedouin villages.

“They have extraordinarily courageous rescue stories,” said Menczer, a Hadassah life member. “Many are heartwarming, most are sad, many have happy endings.”

Beyond AKI’s initial grant, Menczer recently arranged for the transfer of an additional $6,000 toward emergency veterinary care of Deborah and Damka, donkeys rescued from Gaza by Israeli soldiers.

Deborah, a pregnant mare, arrived at SOS with scars and injuries from years of carrying carts. Damka had multiple leg fractures and needed complex orthopedic surgery.

Cohen noted that there is a lack of education in some Arab communities about the proper treatment of animals. Donkeys in particular, she said, “are regarded as disposable and are being overworked with extreme loads. They put metal chains on their faces with no protection, and they tie their legs till it cuts into the flesh.”

According to Cohen, Israeli soldiers entering Gaza at the outset of the war in 2023 “ran into a lot of abused animals. They would put dogs and cats and donkeys in their tanks and bring them to safety in Israel.”

Menczer said she is often asked why she assists animals rather than humans. “There is no Bill Gates in the animal welfare sector,” she said, noting that there are many organizations helping people. “Animals suffer terribly in conflict zones and get very little attention.”

Jordana Benami