Authorities Attempt to Cover Up Rampant Abuse of Horses and Camels

PETA New Undercover Investigation Serves as a Warning to Tourists

Cairo — A new PETA investigation has revealed that, despite pledging for years to end the rampant abuse of camels and horses forced to haul tourists through Giza in the sweltering heat, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has allowed it to continue virtually unchecked—and is even attempting to cover it up.

PETA’s new mini documentary reveals that malnourished horses ate garbage out of dumpsters and that those too weak to stand were forced onto their feet. Investigators found bodies of dead horses dumped at trash sites outside the pyramids of Giza on a daily basis. Horses had wounds that were hidden under their saddles, were violently whipped in front of the tourists they had been forced to haul, had no access to food or adequate shade, and were kept in the dark in a stable that reeked of ammonia. Market traders punched camels and beat the animals with batons, and one threw sand into a camel’s face. A dead camel was tied by their feet to a truck and dragged through the streets, and another was found dead in the middle of a road with their throat slashed open. In addition, a first-ever look into a slaughterhouse in Egypt reveals that camels’ throats were slit while they were fully conscious and the animals were left to writhe in agony on the bloody floor.

Instead of cracking down on this abuse, police—along with a representative from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities—intimidated concerned visitors at tourist sites. On one occasion, police detained a visitor at the pyramids who had been taking pictures and demanded that they delete any photos or videos of the camels and horses, falsely claiming that it’s against the law to photograph them. Then, they wiped and confiscated the camera’s memory card.

“The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has had years to do the right thing, but it’s opting to conceal the abuse instead of lifting a finger to provide relief to the horses and camels who endure merciless beatings,” says PETA Senior Vice President Jason Baker. “PETA is urging travelers to keep Giza off their itineraries as long as authorities remain complicit in the rampant torment of horses and camels.”

A 2019 PETA investigation into the Birqash Camel Market that uncovered the abuse of camels used in the tourism industry generated international outrage, led to the arrests of three men, and prompted dozens of travel companies to announce that they would no longer promote animal rides at the pyramids of Giza. Yet, despite the backlash, the ministry hasn’t even made good on its meager promise in 2022 to provide the animals with adequate shade.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAAsia.com or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

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