Grand Circle Corp Drops Animal Rides at Giza Following Push From PETA

For Immediate Release:
June 5, 2023

Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382

After hearing from PETA, locally based tour operator Grand Circle Corporation has agreed not to sell tickets for exploitative animal rides at the pyramids of Giza. In thanks, PETA is sending the company delicious vegan chocolates.

The move follows a recent video exposé from PETA Asia showing that camels used for rides at the pyramids of Giza and other top Egyptian tourist attractions are beaten bloody, prodded, yanked by the nose, forced to walk on their knees, and tied up. The animals’ legs are bound tightly together to prevent them from moving or escaping, and some camels are tied to the backs of vehicles and dragged through the dirt. When their bodies are too worn out to use for rides, they’re sold and slaughtered for meat.

“A major win for animals, Grand Circle’s new policy encourages tourists to experience the splendor of the pyramids without climbing onto the backs of abused camels,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is applauding Grand Circle for helping to save lives and inspiring other tourism companies to stop promoting cruel practices.”

Grand Circle Corporation joins several other U.S. tour operators that have also removed the rides from their offerings. PETA Asia is calling on the governor of Giza to investigate the traders who have been caught abusing the camels and for the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to remove animal rides from the Giza site.

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 about PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter,  Facebook, or Instagram.