To mark the start of Santorini’s peak tourist season, PETA activists descended on the Greek Consulate General in Sydney today to call for an end to Santorini’s notoriously inhumane donkey rides. The protest was part of an international week of action, with similar demonstrations by PETA affiliates held at Greek embassies and consulates around the world, including in Berlin, London, The Hague, and Washington, DC.
A PETA exposé revealed that donkeys and mules are used as “taxis” in Santorini’s scorching heat, forced to transport tourists up more than 500 steep steps to the old town of Firá, even though a cable car has been operating nearby for decades. Many animals were tethered in the blazing sun without access to water or shade – and some were even forced to continue working at night, hauling bags of rubbish.
A new law passed this year 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
“It’s a disgrace that gentle donkeys are being marched into the ground as they’re forced to work day in and day out with no relief from the hot sun,” says PETA spokesperson Aleesha Naxakis. “PETA is calling on tourists to avoid these cruel rides while urging Greek authorities to step up and stop this abuse.”
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment” – opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview.
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