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Update: As donkeys and mules continue to be abused for tourist rides on the Greek island of Santorini, PETA Germany gathered at the Greek embassy in Berlin to hand in a petition signed by over 160,000 supporters of PETA and our international affiliates calling for a ban on the cruel rides.
Please help keep the pressure on the Greek government to finally do right by animals and stop abusive donkey and mule "taxi" rides on Santorini.
Originally posted on November 13, 2019:
On the Greek island of Santorini, donkeys and mules are used as taxis to carry tourists up and down more than 500 steps to the old town of Firá several times a day. Despite international outrage when an eyewitness report published by PETA in 2018 revealed that the animals were denied water and shade and many had painful wounds, a new PETA video exposé reveals that the suffering and abuse continue.
Open Sores and Bloody Injuries
Donkeys and mules were observed suffering from open sores, raw skin, and bloody injuries caused by their ill-fitting and makeshift saddles. Some animals were forced to wear tight muzzles with sharp wire ends that could easily injure them as well as humans.
Denied Food, Water, and Adequate Shade
When there were no customers, most donkeys and mules were left to stand in the scorching sun. They were tethered so tightly that they couldn't even reach the sole bucket of water available to them. They weren't given any food throughout the day.
Tourists Endangered
Eyewitnesses documented several instances in which tourists were almost run over, trampled, or pushed aside by panicked donkeys and mules, including one in which a man jumped up on a wall to get out of the way. In 2015, a woman was even trampled to death by a donkey.
What You Can Do
After PETA’s first exposé, the Greek Ministry for Rural Development passed new laws to protect animals. Yet this footage shows that the laws are neither observed nor enforced. The time has come for Greece to ban donkey and mule rides altogether, as this is the only way to guarantee the animals' protection and end their suffering and exploitation.
When visiting Santorini, please never go for a ride on an animal. Instead, take the nearby cable car (which has been operating for decades), or explore Firá on foot.
Please join PETA in urging the Greek minister of agriculture to ban donkey and mule rides on Santorini.