Footage: Animals Abused and Horse Left to Mummify at Pyramids of Giza Amid Protests from Carriage Operators
Footage: Animals Abused and Horse Left to Mummify at Pyramids of Giza Amid Protests from Carriage Operators
Fresh footage shows that the government’s animal welfare campaign launched 6 months ago was a farce.
Cairo – As protests by horse and camel ride operators continue to erupt over the introduction of a PETA-approved bus transport system at the Pyramids of Giza, a shocking new PETA Asia investigation reveals that the extreme suffering animals forced to work in Egypt’s tourism industry continues to be ignored by authorities, despite repeated pledges from Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to end the rampant abuse, and the launch of a supposed animal welfare program at the end of 2024.
The brand-new footage shows rotting corpses and sick, injured and starving animals left to die behind the Pyramids, just out of sight of tourists. Animals are seen digging through rubbish to find food, without adequate access to water, while camels continue to suffer from mange because they’re denied sufficient veterinary treatment. A mummified horse was found dumped at a make-shift graveyard near the pyramids – one of the most heartbreaking sites tourists aren’t supposed to know about.
The new footage shows that nothing has changed since PETA Asia’s mini-documentary in 2024 and follows multiple other PETA exposés documenting the abuse of horses and camels. In 2019, when PETA Asia first documented the rampant cruelty at top tourist spots in Egypt – including the Great Pyramids of Giza, Saqqara, and Luxor – Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities promised to make meaningful changes. Yet when investigators returned in 2023, and now in 2025, they documented that conditions remained the same, with authorities even attempting to cover up the abuse and intimidating concerned tourists.
“PETA has documented the routine punching, kicking, whipping, and starving of horses and camels at the pyramids. Animals are literally ridden to death and then dumped like rubbish outside the gate,” says PETA Asia Vice President Jason Baker. “The Pyramids of Giza should symbolise Egypt’s beauty and history — not unchecked animal abuse. The Egyptian government must act to remove these suffering animals from Giza. In the meantime, tourists must vote with their wallets and avoid these animal attractions at all costs.”
A 2019 PETA Asia investigation into Birqash Camel Market that uncovered the abuse of camels used in the tourism industry generated international outrage, led to the arrests of three men, and prompted numerous travel companies to announce that they would no longer promote animal rides at the pyramids of Giza. Yet, despite the backlash, the ministry hasn’t even made good on its meagre promise in 2022 to provide the animals with adequate shade.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow PETA on Facebook, X, TikTok, or Instagram.
Contact:
Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]
#