Herd of ‘Camels’ Protest Egyptian Animal Abuse

What:             On Thursday, over a dozen PETA supporters wearing giant camel masks will brandish signs outside the Egyptian Embassy in Manila proclaiming, “Ban Cruel Animal Rides Now!” to urge the Egyptian government to prohibit the use of horses and camels for transporting tourists at the pyramids of Giza.

Newly released footage from PETA shows that camels used for tourist rides are routinely beaten and bound at Egypt’s notorious Birqash Camel Market, including one who was tied to the back of a truck and dragged through the street. PETA has shared multiple videos like these with the country’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities – one showing a horse in Giza collapsing while pulling a carriage and being beaten until she managed to stand up again. Other videos show horses with open sores and severe, untreated injuries being forced to wait for the next paying customer in the blistering heat without shade or water and trying to subsist by eating trash. The ministry previously pledged to ban the use of horses at tourist sites and implement electric carts instead, but it has failed to keep its promise.

“While Egypt’s government drags its feet on banning animal rides, handlers are literally dragging animals through the streets and beating them bloody,” says PETA Asia Senior Vice President Jason Baker. “PETA is calling on the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to start transitioning to eco-friendly electric carts as promised and on everyone to pledge never to ride animals at tourist attractions or anywhere else.”

When:            Thursday, 1 June, 12 noon sharp

Where:           Outside the Embassy of Egypt, 150 Legazpi Street, Legazpi Village, Makati, 1229 Metro Manila

PETA Asia – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAAsia.com or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

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