Camels and Horses Beaten Bloody at the Pyramids: PETA Seeks Egyptian Government Ban on Animal Rides

For Immediate Release:
September 19, 2023

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

As employees at the Egyptian embassy read the Washington Examiner today, they’ll find a full-page appeal from PETA urging the country to ban camel rides and horse-drawn carriages at the Giza pyramids and—much as airport authorities warn visitors to avoid unlicensed rogue cabs—alert tourists never to take horse or camel rides after recent exposés revealed that malnourished animals were beaten, bound, and left with bloody wounds by their handlers. PETA is increasing the pressure on the Egyptian government after the country’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities reneged on its promise to ban the abusive rides.

Newly released footage from PETA Asia shows camels used for rides and photo ops being hit in the face and on the testicles and left with bloody, fly-infested wounds at the pyramids and at Egypt’s notorious Birqash Camel Market, including a camel who was tied to the back of a truck and dragged through a street. A horse is shown in Giza collapsing while pulling a carriage and being beaten until she manages to stand again, while 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.

“Exhausted animals are being beaten bloody in the streets, while Egypt’s government has failed to implement a promised ban on camel and horse carts,” says PETA Asia Senior Vice President Jason Baker. “PETA is calling on the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to switch to eco-friendly electric carts as it promised and urges people never to ride an animal at a tourist attraction or anywhere else.”

Following communications from PETA, a growing number of travel companies—including AdventureWomen, Scott Dunn, Geographic Expeditions, Virtuoso, Abercrombie & Kent, and Grand Circle Corporation—have agreed not to promote or sell tickets for exploitative animal rides at the pyramids of Giza.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.