DK Pledges to Stop Promoting Animal Rides in Travel Guides

For Immediate Release:

25 July 2018

Contact:

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

DK PLEDGES TO STOP PROMOTING ANIMAL RIDES IN TRAVEL GUIDES

PETA Appeal Prompts Update to DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Delhi, Agra and Jaipur

London – After corresponding with PETA, London-based book publisher DK, part of Penguin Random House, has agreed to stop promoting animal rides in its travel guides, including the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. Not only will the next edition of the popular publication contain no images of animals being ridden and no recommendations for taking elephant rides, it’ll also include information about the controversy surrounding captive-elephant exhibits.

“DK joins dozens of travel companies in rejecting tourist traps that force highly intelligent, social elephants to give rides,” says PETA Director Elisa Allen. “PETA urges travellers to keep all captive-elephant camps off their itineraries, and DK’s commitment to education will help prevent holidaymakers from inadvertently supporting cruelty to animals.”

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment” – notes that elephants used for rides are often forcibly separated from their mothers, immobilised with tightly bound ropes, and gouged with bullhooks or nail-studded sticks during “training”. Some don’t survive the gruelling process, and those who do spend the rest of their lives lugging tourists around or performing tricks under the threat of physical punishment.

A recent PETA India exposé of Amber Fort in Jaipur, India, found that elephants were forced to give rides despite suffering from arthritis, visual impairment, psychological distress, and other ailments – and several tested positive for tuberculosis, which is highly transmissible to humans. Last year, a group of American tourists at Amber Fort reported seeing ride operators beating an elephant continuously for 10 minutes.

DK joins TUI Group – the world’s largest travel and tourism company, which owns TUI and First Choice – as well as STA Travel, Intrepid Travel, and G Adventures in pledging not to promote cruel elephant rides.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.

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