Don’t Accept Donkey Rides (here or abroad)
It’s less popular these days, but donkey rides are (like horse carriages and Punch & Judy shows) gradually disappearing, in a better age of animal welfare. There are welfare checks (overseen by The Donkey Sanctuary) on remaining donkey rides on English beaches.
This was brought into place, due to needing strict riding weights, due to heavier children. But it will remains a boring life for sociable donkeys, who no doubt would prefer to be living in open fields, with their own kind.
It’s now the law that all donkeys on beaches in England, must have fresh water and shade. Only a few years ago, a petition to ban all UK donkey rides gained 100,000 signatures.
In a northern seaside town recently, some parents were in uproar, when the local man giving donkey rides, demanded to weight children, before letting them ride his animals. He was however inundated with support from the public, for trying to ensure good welfare for his donkeys.
Don’t Take Donkey Rides in Europe
A British family recently used Born Free’s Red Alert to report emaciated donkeys giving rides in a town on Costa del Sol, a popular tourist holiday destination. The charity and others have been lobbying the mayor of Mijas, to end donkey rides in this area, and let them go to the nearby donkey sanctuary.
Some were being made to stand in intense heat for hours, waiting for tourists to book a cart they had to pull along, often without access to water between rides.
Many were frothing at the mouth, some were falling down hills due to fatigue, and others were standing in their own urine, unable to move. A local said the donkeys are being worked seven days a week.
El Refugio del Burrito is the Spanish brand of The Donkey Charity, doing all it can to help. But it would be made a lot easier if British and other foreign tourists did not support the donkey ride industry. You can also report concerns to their website.
