Virtuoso Drops Animal Rides in Giza Following Push From PETA

For Immediate Release:
August 14, 2023

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

Following communications from PETA, locally based travel company Virtuoso 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 they’re too worn out to be used for rides, they’re sold and slaughtered for meat.

“A major win for animals, Virtuoso’s new policy encourages tourists to experience the splendor of the pyramids without climbing onto the backs of abused camels,” says PETA Manager Sara Britt. “PETA is applauding Virtuoso for helping to save lives and inspire other tourism companies to abandon cruel practices.”

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.