Victory! Marriott Removing Animal Rides at the Great Pyramids After PETA US Shows Beatings
30th April 2025
Victory! Marriott Removing Animal Rides at the Great Pyramids After PETA US Shows Beatings
London— Following communications with PETA US that included video footage of dying camels, beaten horses, and underfed animals, Marriott is now removing all tours and activities featuring camels and horses forced to carry visitors in the blistering heat at the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, acknowledging that such offerings violate its animal welfare standards. PETA is now urging UK-based travel companies Aero Travels, On The Go Tours and Stubborn Mule Travel to follow in Marriott’s compassionate footsteps and drop horse and camel rides from their offerings, with over 12,000 emails from PETA supporters being sent to the companies in less than a week.
PETA Asia’s latest investigation into the historic site documented handlers violently beating exhausted horses and camels who are used to haul tourists in the blistering heat and without shade. Injured and malnourished horses were seen eating from rubbish dumps, and the bodies of dead horses were found discarded every day at rubbish heaps outside the Giza pyramids. Camels considered too old, sick, or injured to be useful were often hauled to a slaughterhouse, where their throats were slit while they were still conscious. One camel on video can be seen continuing to kick for agonising minutes after her throat has been cut.
“Compassionate tourists are appalled at the violence inflicted on sensitive camels and horses at the Great Pyramids,” says Senior Corporate Projects Manager Dr Carys Bennett. “Kudos to Marriott for joining the growing list of companies shunning these shameful rides. Those operators still profiting from animal abuse in Egypt must immediately follow suit.”
Horses are herd animals who can feel stressed if forced to live alone and mourn each other’s deaths, while camels are known to greet one another by blowing air on each other’s faces. Marriott joins more than 50 businesses that won’t promote or sell animal rides at the pyramids, including Airbnb, Audley Travel, British Airways Holidays, easyJet holidays, Exodus Adventure Travels, Flash Pack, Hays Travel, Scott Dunn, and Travel Republic.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment” – 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:
Lucy Watson +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]
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