Cale Green Park Summer Fair Urged by PETA to Drop Cruel Donkey Rides

20.06.2024

Stockport – Ahead of Cale Green Park Summer Fair (30 June), PETA has sent a letter calling on the event’s organisers to cancel plans to include donkey rides – which often subject the naturally gentle animals to rough handling and being kicked and screamed at by unruly riders – and to help teach children that animals are living, feeling beings, not carnival equipment.

“Forcing donkeys to plod in endless circles while hauling fairgoers on their backs teaches children the wrong lesson: that animals are something, not someone who deserves respect and compassion,” says PETA Vice President Mimi Bekhechi. “PETA urges Cale Green Park Summer Fair to leave donkeys in peace and calls on families to steer clear of any event that uses animals for entertainment.”

PETA points out that donkeys used in fairs are subjected to the physical and psychological stress of transport, sometimes over long distances, when hauled from one event to the next. The noise and commotion of fairs are extremely worrisome for the animals, and donkeys who are thrust into loud, confusing environments can become frightened and may freeze – prompting abuse from riders – or lash out to protect themselves. Forcing donkeys to carry humans or equipment can also strain their back and joints.

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow the group on Facebook, X, TikTok, or Instagram.

Contact:

Sascha Camilli +44 (0) 20 7923 6244; [email protected]

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