Club Med Says ‘Au Revoir’ to Elephant Rides, SeaWorld, and More After PETA France Plea

Club Med Says ‘Au Revoir’ to Elephant Rides, SeaWorld, and More After PETA France Plea

London – After learning from PETA France how animals used in tourist attractions physically and psychologically suffer, French travel provider Club Med has just released a new animal welfare guide detailing plans to stop promoting elephant rides, captive whale and dolphin exhibits, bull fights, and photo ops with animals. Taking effect this August, the policies also include a fur ban in the company’s boutiques and recommendations for spay/neuter surgeries in countries with large homeless animal populations. Advice is also included on deterring – rather than killing – mosquitos, showing consideration for even the smallest of animals with whom we share the planet.

“Unlike Club Med’s happy travellers, animals used for entertainment never get a chance to relax or share special moments with their loved ones,” says PETA Vice President of International Programmes Mimi Bekhechi. “PETA urges other travel companies to follow Club Med’s lead and begin their own journeys into the world of animal protection by cutting support for SeaWorld and other cruel exhibitors.”

In nature, orcas and other dolphins form complex relationships and traverse dozens of miles of ocean every day – yet parks such as SeaWorld cram these animals into cramped tanks. Big cats used for tourists’ selfies typically live in barren cages, and some are killed when they grow too large for photo ops. Elephant ride operators often beat elephants into submission. The British travel association ABTA – of which Club Med is a member – has said it’s unacceptable for tourists to take elephant rides, and the UK government is considering making it illegal for travel companies to promote the activity.

Club Med joins a long list of companies – including British Airways Holidays, Virgin Holidays, Premier Holidays, Booking.com, and Tripadvisor – that have stopped promoting SeaWorld and the more than 50 travel companies that have pulled elephant rides.

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow the group on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

Contact:

Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]

#