Scottish actor Alan Cumming joins animal welfare campaign

They’re calling on the new Labour government to implement the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act which was passed in Parliament last September to protect animals at tourist attractions around the world.

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Alan Cumming on the return of Victor and Barry

New research conducted by the charity suggests that one in three Scots have witnessed animal cruelty at a tourist attraction abroad.

Alan Cumming said: "It’s incredibly shocking that 1 in 3 of us have witnessed animal cruelty at a tourist attraction abroad. That’s an extraordinary number. It’s awful to imagine the number of animals suffering every day at those attractions.

“Thankfully a new law was passed last year to help stop this. But it’s not enough. It can’t be implemented without a clear list of practices that are banned and the new government needs to rectify this urgently - until then the tourism industry is stuck, waiting to know what to do. And, more importantly, animals continue to suffer."

Animals Asia wants UK legislation to condemn elephant rides as these animals are compelled to work under strenuous environmental conditions. This image shows the elephant Ta Nuon before being rescued.(Image: Animals Asia)

The UK law is a world first and aims to crack down on sales to tourist attractions exploiting animals abroad by making it illegal for British travel companies to promote or sell them if they do not meet suitable animal welfare standards. 

At the time of passing, the then Animal Welfare Minister Lord Benyon said: ”We know that some foreign tourist attractions often subject majestic animals like elephants to cruel and brutal training methods.

“The Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act is an important step in our commitment to ensure high animal welfare standards both here in this country and abroad, and I encourage holidaymakers to do their research so they can make informed choices that do not encourage poor animal welfare practices.”

However, the previous conservative government failed to suitably clarify parameters and specify activities that do not meet these standards and are therefore banned, in order to enable implementation of the act. The lack of implantation has meant a failure to prevent animal suffering, the charity says.

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Animals Asia would like to see the government’s list of banned activities at tourist attractions include: animals being made to perform, such as riding bicycles, jumping through hoops or unnatural tricks such as hand stands; animals confined in uncomfortable spaces that don't allow them to act naturally or hurt them, such as small cages and pools or being chained to the ground under the sun to make money; tourists being allowed to feed wild animals or interact with them; elephant rides; and trophy hunting.

The charity has previously helped to end the suffering of animals at tourist attractions in Asia in a variety of ways including an ethical tourism experience with visits to its rescued bear sanctuary in Vietnam, rescuing and caring for elephants previously used in riding tourism, and working with the Vietnamese Government to pass laws and regulations to end cruel animal activities at tourist attractions, including providing evidence through investigations and reports. 

The same Elephant shown above. Ta Nuon after being resuced by Animals Asia. (Image: Animals Asia)

As part of the new campaign, as families start heading off on summer holiday, they are also calling on Scots abroad to become ‘welfare whistleblowers’.

Anyone traveling abroad is being asked to do their research before visiting any animal parks to ensure they are ethical and report any cruel tourist attractions they see.

The research study involved 2000 adults in the UK including 145 from Scotland. Around 75 percent of those questioned would be put off from booking with a travel company that advertises or sells tickets to attractions where animals are treated badly.

Popular airline Thomas Cook has also joined the Animals Asia campaign

CEO of the flight operator, Alan French said: “For many of our customers, especially families, we know that visiting attractions when they’re away is an important part of their holiday and they rely on us to help them choose which ones are the best to visit.

“When customers choose from our range of attractions they know that we’ve taken the highest welfare standards into consideration before we offer them. We welcome the new legislation around low welfare activities and look forward to seeing it implemented in full soon.”

The full list of activities Animal Asia is looking to have banned at abroad tourist attractions are;

• Dolphin parks and any kind of setting where all aquatic mammals, such as whales, dolphins, and porpoises are confined to small areas lacking natural features, allowed to be fed by visitors without the freedom to choose how to spend their time and the opportunity to engage in natural behaviours.
   
• Circus performances involving domestic and wild animals as these animals are subjected to poor-quality, restricted environments. They endure stress during performances, live in unnatural conditions, and suffer physical and mental abuse at the hands of their trainers.
   
• Elephant rides as these animals are compelled to work under strenuous environmental conditions.
   
• Civet coffee farms, where civets (small mammals with a cat-like appearance) are denied the opportunity to live and behave naturally and are subjected to nutritionally deficient and unbalanced diets.
   
• Horse-drawn carriages, where horses are deprived of natural behaviours, subjected to stress from loud noises and close public interactions, and endure physical and mental abuse from trainers or owners. The animals are forced to work in harsh environmental conditions, including extreme temperatures and humidity.