A world-first – but not enough

In September last year, a new UK law was passed to prevent travel companies from promoting and selling tickets, in England and Northern Ireland, to tourist attractions abroad where animals suffer and where welfare standards are considered unacceptable.

The Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act was a world-first, and whilst we celebrated this - we were disappointed that the previous government failed to specify a list of activities that do not meet these standards, and are therefore banned under the law. This means that the law’s parameters are unclear, and its enforcement completely impossible. 

A new opinion poll commissioned by Animals Asia indicates that the new law lacks effectiveness unless the UK Government specifies the particular activities that should be prohibited.

The poll revealed that:

• 1 in 3 Brits (that’s a huge 17.3 million) - have witnessed animal cruelty at a tourist attraction abroad
• More than half (51%) felt guilty about the animals
• Nearly a third (29%) wanted to do something to stop the cruelty
• 1 in 10 (9%) said it ruined their holiday

[Fieldwork for this research was conducted by Opinium Research from April 26th to April 30th, 2024. The sample size comprised 2,000 UK adults and the results were weighted to ensure that results are nationally representative]

For more information about the survey, please read our Press Release.

We need clarity to help animals suffering for entertainment 

You can help stop cruel tourist attractions abroad. Join our campaign supporters: Ricky Gervais, Chris Packham, Stephen Fry and Alan Cumming in the fight against cruelty to animals in the name of entertainment. 

We’re calling on UK residents to sign our petition for clarification from the new government around which tourist attractions will be banned from being sold and promoted under this law. Additionally, you can also report any animal cruelty that you may have witnessed while abroad after September 2023, by emailing us on [email protected]. 

By adding your voice, you help us provide vital evidence to present to and put pressure on the newly elected UK government to effectively implement the law that could - and should - be helping to save countless animals from suffering.

What do we want?

By signing the petition, you will be supporting our call for a list of prohibited activities that will be included under the recently passed law. This will mean it can actually be enforced, and make the positive difference to animals that was originally intended. 

We welcome ABTA's list of unacceptable activities, and in addition would like to see the inclusion of dolphin parks, circus performances, elephant rides, civet coffee farms, cockfighting, and horse drawn carriages – all of which in some way deprive the animal of natural behaviours, require caging or restraint, and involve subjecting them to handling or stressful encounters.

What can you do?

You must be a UK resident to sign the petition for presentation to the UK government but you can still help animals used in tourism from anywhere in the world. 

• Check out our ethical tourism guide for some simple “Do’s and Don’ts” and ensure you are fully informed on how to make the best choices for animals when travelling. 
• Share this resource with your friends and family, and help raise awareness about the cruelty that is often hidden from, and unknown to unsuspecting tourists, so that we can all #TravelWithKindness.
• Use your power of choice: by avoiding unethical, exploitative holiday experiences that use animals for entertainment, you can have a positive impact and improve the lives of captive animals by reducing the demand for them and their popularity.
• Donate towards our work for captive animal welfare.

#TravelWithKindness

Read more

You can find out more about our work to end the suffering of animals at tourist attractions across Asia through our Captive Animal Welfare program.

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