Chapter 4.17
Animal Friendly Travel
Animal abusers earn money by displaying animals to travellers and tourists, especially in Asia, Africa and South America. You can help stop it.
What’s the Problem?
The animals, often taken from the wild, are frequently poorly kept, neglected or over-worked. They eventually die or their owners kill them when they are past their usefulness. The final betrayal is selling their body parts as souvenirs. Untold numbers of animals suffer like this for the tourist trade and you could witness it anywhere in the world.
Many travellers would not tolerate similar cruelties in their own country. Nor should we accept as an excuse for cruelty the assumed sanctity of another country’s customs and culture. Each of us is responsible for ensuring as far as we can that our behaviour does not contribute to animal suffering, even when we are abroad. We can go native in foreign lands but must keep our compassion.
What You Can Do - the Five Freedoms
It is normal to wonder just when you should step in to try to prevent cruelty. Mistreatment may not be clearly apparent when you are just a temporary visitor to a country with strange customs. But we can bear in mind a minimum standard for animal welfare. Animals must have access to their proper food, to water and shelter, should look healthy generally and not have physical wounds or obviously be mistreated, such as whipped or punched.
When judging whether to intervene you can apply The Five Freedoms as your standard criteria. The Five Freedoms are applicable worldwide but were first proposed in the 1960's and subsequently endorsed by the Farm Animal Welfare Council, set up by the British government to advise it (see The Five Freedoms). The Five Freedoms are so basic and applicable to animals used in trade that they serve for any animal, not just farm animals.
The Five Freedoms are:
- Freedom from Hunger and Thirst
- Freedom from Pain, Injury or Disease
- Freedom from Discomfort
- Freedom to Express Normal Behaviour
- Freedom from Fear and Distress
Violations of the Five Freedoms are indications that animals need help.
Examples of Animal Attractions
Some schemes to look out for are these.
- Bear dancing: wild bear cubs are caught and trained to stand on their hind legs to dance and do tricks for onlookers.
- Animal photography: young animals like monkeys, chimpanzees and lion cubs, are made to let tourists fondle them while a photo is taken. Tourists are photographed standing next to large exotic animals, like an adult lion or bear.
- Traditional medicine: eg bears are kept in tiny cages and farmed for their bile sold as 'medicine' for ailments; tigers are killed for their penis for people in Asia to eat as an aphrodisiac.
- Cats and dogs: across Asia cats are cooked and skinned alive; dogs are hung slowly by the neck to die, reputedly to make them taste better.
- Souvenirs and trinkets: these are made from animal body parts, like bones, ivory, shells and coral reefs; many come from species that are ‘protected’ by law.
- Selling animals as pets: many pets are taken from the wild all over the world and die during shipment by traders.
- Circuses and aquariums: for fish, sharks, turtles, dolphins, orcas and all sorts of animals, where their basic needs are not met.
- Roadside Zoos: animals are tethered or caged to attract customers to buy goods on display.
- What can you do when you discover abuses like these? You (1) prepare before travel, (2) act when you travel, and (3) follow-up when you return home.
(1) Prepare Before Travel
You may be using a travel company in your home country. Ensure they do not encourage or advocate activities that exploit animals and that they do not deal with third parties which do, like hotels and local tour operators. Tell the company at the outset that you want animal-friendly services. Some operators may not be familiar with animal-friendly travel. Then tell them what animal-friendly travel means: non-patronisation of animal cruelty and more specifically the Five Freedoms. Think twice about using a travel company that gives bland replies or really cannot accommodate your wishes.
A little preparation before you go on your trip will make you feel more confident and ease your mind when on your travels. Search the Web to for what to expect abroad. You can count on certain abuses in particular countries, such as serving tortured animals in restaurants in China and south-east Asia and bear dancing in India and the Balkans. List potential helpers in the region where you will be travelling, especially humane societies and bodies that enforce animal welfare.
(2) Act When You Travel
The simplest thing is to ensure as far as possible that you patronise only cruelty-free attractions. Avoid paying for entertainment, goods or food you think may contravene humane behaviour to animals.
However, a stronger response is to object and complain about abuse. Take immediate action while travelling if you see animals being mistreated or you may lose the opportunity to help them. The least you can do is find who is in charge, outline your position and ask them to stop what they are doing. You have made a stand, however they react, and communicated to them that not all tourists approve of their activity.
A tougher step is also to complain to the local authorities. Legal protection is so varied that in some countries you may not easily be able to persuade the authorities to take action. But even in foreign countries you have a right to complain. Use your right for the animals you see abused. Remind the authorities that the money tourists spend is an important means of revenue for their country and that animal abuse turns tourists away and gives their country a bad name.
In serious cases, where you really have to get in touch with the authorities, collect as much evidence as you can for them. This would be best before you tackle the abusers themselves about their behaviour.
- Note the date and the place. Record how many animals are involved, whether young or old, and their species. Take photos or video and keep any freely available documents (like leaflets). Try to collect written and signed statements from other witnesses with their addresses. Finally, get the names of the abusers concerned.
- Lodge a complaint with the local police if you think anything is illegal. Inform local animal welfare organisations that may be able to help and request they send an officer immediately to check the situation. The testimony of an expert witness, such as a vet, can help.
- Tackle your hotel, tour operator and local tourist office if they have any involvement. Ask your local consulate or embassy for guidance on what can be done.
- Ask other witness of the abuse to follow your example; the more people who protest, the more seriously you will be taken. Give witnesses full details of who to contact.
Be persistent. If you are not satisfied by enforcement officers tell them you will speak to their superiors, and do so if need be. If the authority is reluctance to act and you still cannot get anywhere, try the local dignitaries, such as the local mayor and councillors. You may find that persuading people to act is easier if they know you have alerted the media about your story; officials want to keep their jobs and often do not want a bad press.
(3) Follow-up When You Return Home
Possibly you could not contact the local animal welfare organisations where you saw the abuse. Correspond with them on your return home to say what happened and ask what they can do. Also give your travel company the full story - even if they were not involved; tell them you can only support and recommend them if they take action to recognise animal abuse and not patronise its perpetrators.
Don't feel you are powerless to help animals on your travels. By being an animal friendly traveller you help local communities because in the long-run they will gain from a healthier respect for animals. A better life for animals will not come about overnight, but a continual flow of progressive ideas about animal ethics and complaints from disaffected travellers will count.
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