PETA Protesters Demand an End to Greece’s Animal ‘Taxis’ at Embassy
While temperatures are still soaring in Santorini, a pack of PETA supporters in donkey masks gathered outside the Embassy of Greece in Holland Park, London, to pressure officials to ban donkey and mule rides.
An eyewitness investigation showed that exhausted animals with bloody wounds were still being forced to carry tourists up and down steep, slippery steps all day long on the Greek island, even though a cable car has been operating nearby for a decade.
Greece’s mule and donkey rides are a Sisyphean nightmare – the animals’ futile toil is ceaseless. PETA is calling on officials to retire these long-suffering animals to reputable sanctuaries and embrace modern means of transportation.
Why Are PETA Supporters Protesting?
A recent law prevents owners from burdening their donkeys with weights exceeding 100 kilograms, even though, according to veterinary recommendations, donkeys shouldn’t carry more than 20% of their body weight – approximately 50 kilograms. What’s more, many animals stumble – often after being beaten with a stick by a handler – endangering people who climb the stairs on foot.
None of the existing measures taken by the government to protect the animals are sufficiently monitored or enforced, and misconduct is rarely punished. PETA is demanding an immediate ban on donkey and mule rides.
What’s Wrong With Donkey Rides?
A PETA exposé showed that the animals were tethered in the blazing sun, without access to water or shade, and forced to transport tourists up more than 500 steep steps to the old town of Firá.
Many donkeys and mules have painful wounds – both fresh injuries and old, untreated ones that have scarred over – on their abdomens caused by ill-fitting saddle girths and other inadequate equipment. For them, every step means pain.
How You Can Help the Situation in Santorini
Please help by sending a message to the Greek ministers of tourism and rural development and food urging them to ban cruel donkey and mule rides in Santorini immediately:
