Survey sparks new guidelines for tourists
The animal welfare charity, SPANA, has launched an ethical animal tourism guide and is encouraging tourists to do their homework before going on activities abroad that involve animals.
According to a new survey commissioned by the Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad, it has been revealed that animal mistreatment deters British tourists from foreign holiday destinations.
In addition, the results show that over one in five British adults (22%) have seen animals being mistreated when on holiday overseas, but over three-quarters of these holidaymakers (77%) made no attempt to report the most recent incident of mistreatment that they saw. The majority of these holidaymakers (71%) say they have seen animals used in the tourism industry mistreated. Of those who have seen animals mistreated abroad the most common animals people reported seeing mistreated were donkeys (45%) and horses (35%).
SPANA’s chief executive, Jeremy Hulme, said: “Tourism animals in many of the places SPANA works such as Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan are vital to the economy and many families’ livelihoods. “We don’t think it is right that people should be put off from visiting these countries. We want people to feel empowered to change animal welfare standards through choosing responsible animal tour providers and lobbying for change such as by reporting mistreatment to country tourism boards.”
Andy Stringer, SPANA’s director of veterinary programmes, said: “We are very surprised by the survey’s findings. We expected that many tourists would have seen animals mistreated abroad, but we weren’t prepared for the fact that so many people haven’t reported animal mistreatment because they were unaware of how to go about it. “We want people to read our guide and make themselves aware of what they can do if they’re faced with an animal mistreatment situation abroad.”
For more information about SPANA’s ethical animal tourism advice click here.
The BSAVA has opened submissions for the BSAVA Clinical Research Abstracts 2026.
