Animal rides are often taken by tourists both here and abroad, as part of the holiday. But many people are unaware that behind the scenes, most animals are not having a great time (even if they are not hit or living in tiny cramped areas, when not working).
don’t accept rides on elephants abroad
The company Responsible Travel don’t sell any holidays that allow elephant rides, as again many of these gentle giants are exploited. This often happens in Asia, and are often promoted as ethical ways to learn how to be a mahout etc, but the truth is not so pretty. Wild elephant are struggling to survive due to habitat loss, and the more are taken to provide tourist entertainment, the less better futures for them. Learn of better ways to help protect endangered elephants.
The wonderful Chris Packham once took an elephant ride when not knowing the reality behind it, and now campaigns to educate others to not take elephant rides abroad. It was a safari to view tigers in their natural habitat, but now he says it was a mistake. He supports the government’s Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Bill, which is a bit of a mouthful but basically clamps down on using animals abroad for entertaining tourists from zoos and aquariums to animal rides, dancing animals and chimps being ripped from their parents and having their teeth removed, to have photos taken with children.
A study at Oxford University found that over half a million animals worldwide suffer for tourism entertainment. An obvious example is bullfights (nearly all income is from UK and American tourism, same for trophy hunting).
Alas Chris says it’s a pretty pointless piece of legislation, unless people can use it. He suggests instead reporting animal cruelty abroad direct to organisations like Born Free and PETA (also inform your local tour operator and the police).
make lives better for ‘draught animals’ abroad
So-called ‘draught animals’ are ones that are more used for work than tourism: donkeys, horses and camels are sometimes treated well, but often they work long hours with poor welfare (some communities still believe that splitting a donkey’s nostrils helps easier breathing). Many of these poorer and less educated communities don’t have the knowledge or funds for good veterinary care, and often poverty means they work their animals to death. Sometimes camels are basically chained up, to turn around all day to bring water up from wells.
The charity SPANA that does wonderful work helping the animals, and giving free vet care and training local people in animal welfare (you can report concerns). It also organises emergency response like helping animals during natural disasters like earthquakes. Worldwide Veterinary Services is another charity that uses donations to fund volunteer vets helping all kinds of animals abroad (including working draught animals).
Animal Aid Abroad helps all working animals including horses, donkeys and camels. Recently it has set up a camel sanctuary in India where camels have been treated, following cases of mange and maggot-infested wounds (due to old nose rings) or under their stomachs (due to saddle straps). Some also had treatment after being involved in road accidents.
Brooke is a similar charity that focuses on helping millions of working horses, donkeys and mules worldwide. And just as importantly, it trains thousands of those who work with animals including health care workers. It has just launched three new vet clinics to help 20,000 animals in Ethiopia and has a page where you can report any concerns if on holiday abroad. It also has a book Sharing the Load (available as a download in several languages) to educate communities abroad on helping draught animals.
Safe Haven for Donkeys is doing extremely important work, after years of helping donkeys on the border in the Middle East. Of course now things are even worse due to the war in Gaza. Many horses and donkeys have been killed, and now as the main form of transport, they are often worked on little food and rest. It also has just set up a new project in Egypt, helping donkeys who work in intense heat to move bricks to kilns (used to build houses). Many have untreated wounds, fly infestations and overgrown hooves. All animals are treated by this charity both on-site and at mobile clinics.
Although playing lotteries is not the best way to live life, playing their Weather Lottery (instead of the national one) may be a good way to earn them some extra pennies. You can also scrap your old car, and monies raised from metal will benefit this wonderful cause. Lucy’s UK Donkey Foundation also gives grants to help working animals in the Holy Land.
moving on from beach donkey rides
Donkeys are beautiful creatures, though be careful as they can nip, if you get too close! Naturally gentle but very strong, this has unfortunately meant that they are some of the most abused animals on earth, mostly abroad.
But in England, it’s still common for parents to pay to have their children to take donkey rides on the beach. This may have been popular years ago, but times have moved on. Although all donkeys on beach rides in England now undergo strict welfare checks (overseen by the Donkey Sanctuary charity), it still remains that it’s a boring life for most of them, and they no doubt would be prefer to be living in open countryside, playing with their children. The obesity epidemic has also seen Donkey Sanctuary introduce strict criteria for maximum riding weights for children.
In England, most donkeys we see happily are at donkey sanctuaries, they enjoy a lovely life after being rescued from abuse and neglect. There are several around England, so support them where you can. The Donkey Sanctuary is one of the few ‘big charities’ in England where most money does indeed go on the donkeys, rather than to administration, company cars and unwanted pen gifts. You can report welfare issues for concerns.
The charity offers a Donkey Care Handbook. And also does important work abroad, to help stop the almost 6 million donkeys that are slaughtered each year for their skins, due to the collagen being used in Chinese ‘medicine’.
Donkeys have been working on beaches since the late 1700s, so it’s time things moved on. There are welfare standards in place now for annual vet checks, rest and weight of children etc. But these laws are not always adhered to, and prosecutions have taken place in some cases. Not only should donkeys have fresh water but shade (remember we have blistering summers these days). Only a few years ago, a petition to ban all UK donkey beach rides gained 100,000 signatures.
A petition is presently underway to ban donkey rides at a well-known seaside town in Somerset. And in a northern seaside town, some parents have been in uproar, as the local man giving donkey rides now demands to weigh the children before letting them ride his animals, concerned over obesity. And in fact, he has been inundated with support from the public, for at least trying to give better welfare to his animals.
moving on from horse-drawn carriages
One area of contention in New York City is the horses used to give carriage rides in Central Park. Although it looks a nice ‘memory’, many horses are spooked by traffic, and several have been killed or injured in car accidents. A local non-profit wants the horses to go to sanctuaries and have created a beautiful vintage-style electric car that is cheap and clean to run, and would give more profits to drivers, for a nice tourist ride, but no risk to animals. The city of Brussels is replacing horse-drawn carriages with electric vehicles, similar to the ones proposed in New York.
A Bill is presently going through again to ban horse carriages in the city (but without the electric replacement). The Bill is set to become Ryder’s Law, named after an elderly New York carriage horse who collapsed in a heatwave and died a few months later, found to be suffering from many ailments. Photos over the border in Mexico have recently been shown on the news, showing street horses collapsing in the street, often due to heat.
People in England often consider that Spain is cruel to animals. Yet while we still have seaside towns offering horse-drawn carriage ride for tourists, in Mallorca they are banned on animal welfare grounds. You may have seen on the news recently how panicked horses in London escaped from the Household Cavalry to rampage through the streets.