Owners often work donkeys into the ground before casting them aside when they are no longer capable. When donkeys come to the end of their working life they are often abandoned and left to die or pushed over the edge of a cliff.
JEN MILLS: ‘Photos show how donkeys in Greece are struggling with the weight of overweight holidaymakers… Locals are breeding a new kind of donkey to cope with the increased poundage of tourists riding them. The animals have traditionally used on the island of Santorini to transport people over hilly areas which vehicles cannot access. Animal rights activists claim with obesity on the rise, the animals are being forced to carry ever-heavier loads while they work long hours, seven days a week. Some have been left with spinal injuries and open wounds from ill-fitting saddles…
Eyewitnesses claim every day the donkeys make four to five journeys up the 520 white cobbled steps to the town of Fira with its iconic white building in temperature of up to 30 degrees, often with no rest, no protection from the sun, ill-fitting tack and no water… During the peak months of May to October, up to five cruise ships a day dock in Santorini, bringing 1,200 tourists who ride the animals up to the capital, Fira…
In 2008 an international code of practice for working equines was signed by officials on the island, alongside the UK donkey sanctuary. But with no appointed body to enforce the regulations, owners often work donkeys into the ground before casting them aside when they are no longer capable… When donkeys come to the end of their working life they are often abandoned and left to die or pushed over the edge of a cliff’. SOURCE…
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