Amazon will no longer be offering libido-boosting donkey skin for sale in California after a nonprofit group filed a lawsuit against the e-retailer for marketing a nutritional supplement that included donkey hide.
The Seattle-based company reached a settlement with California pledging to “undertake reasonable best efforts” to crack down on the sale of a nutritional supplement known as ejiao (pronounced “uh-jee-ow”) — an herb that is derived from the hide of a donkey.
The settlement resolves a dispute that began with a lawsuit filed by The Center for Contemporary Equine Studies, an animal rights group that seeks to ban the slaughter of horses for both human and animal consumption, according to Wired.
The nonprofit has long argued that donkeys fall under the category of equines. California banned the slaughter of horses and the sale of horsemeat for human consumption in 1998.
Last week, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law a similar ban on horse slaughter and the sale of horsemeat.
There is no federal ban on the private slaughtering of horses, which remains legal in all states except for California, New York, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey and Texas.
California residents can still view products containing donkey ingredients and add them to their online carts, but they won’t be able to purchase them using an address based in the Golden State, according to terms of the settlement.
Products that include donkey-derived ingredients will still be available to customers in the other 49 states.
Demand for ejiao, which is popular in Chinese medicine, has reportedly fueled a massive poaching campaign that has resulted in a drastic decline in the donkey population, particularly in Africa.
According to the UK-based nonprofit The Donkey Sanctuary, around 4.8 million donkeys are slaughtered for their skin every year.
Poachers take the collagen from donkey skin and use it to produce ejiao, an herbal remedy used in Chinese medicine.
Collagen is an anti-aging protein that is ingested in order to maintain healthy joints and skin elasticity.
Among the various purported health benefits that are derived from the use of ejiao are increased libido, improved blood circulation, resolution of menstruation problems and increase of low blood cell counts.
Ejiao is consumed through pills, liquids, bars and beauty and cosmetic products.
The Donkey Sanctuary said that the popularity of ejiao in China has decimated the local donkey population.
Some African countries have banned donkey exports since many poor rural families rely on the animals for their livelihoods.
Animal rights groups have encouraged the use of cellular agriculture to mass produce collagen since the process would not require harvesting, breeding or slaughtering animals.
The Post has sought comment from Amazon.
