Dromedary or camel rides have become a tourist attraction in various parts of the Canary Islands. Some animal defense organizations consider that, on occasions, these activities involve mistreatment of animals. An example of tourist exploitation of dromedaries has been denounced by the Foundation for Advice and Action in Defense of Animals (Faada) in reference to a young of this species (Camelus dromedarius) mistreated in Lanzarote after it could not lift and walk its two tourists in the Timanfaya area.
La Faada recalls that at the beginning of this month of June a video was widely disseminated on social networks (especially on Instagram) in which it was shown and denounced “the mistreatment of a young dromedary used by the company Echadero de los Camels, in the Timanfaya National Park, in Lanzarote”.
The images show an adult dromedary and a calf, both carrying tourists, as well as a man pulling the rope of the first of the animals and two more people trying to force the action of the dromedaries.
The young dromedary seems unable to lift the weight of its two passengers (it is not indicated if they are really tourists or it is a training session) and one of the people tries to force its movement by pushing and hitting from the ground.
Faada explains that, as can be seen in the video released, “the dromedary calf, unable to get up due to the excessive weight it is supporting for its age, drags itself along the ground trying to stand up without success. This scene is repeated for several minutes, adding more men who continue forcing the animal to perform a task for which it is obviously not physically capable and causing it suffering, anguish and stress”.
“What happened leads to the violation of animal protection regulations both at the municipal, regional and national level,” says this entity for the defense of animals. In the first place, the violation of the Municipal Ordinance on the Ownership of Companion and Potentially Dangerous Animals of the Yaiza City Council is evident, which prohibits mistreating animals or subjecting them to practices that may cause unjustified suffering or damage, as well as the use of the same in activities that involve suffering and mistreatment.
On the other hand, Faada reiterates, there is also a clear violation of Law 8/1999, of April 30, on the Protection of Animals in the Canary Islands, which prohibits the use of animals in activities that involve abuse.
Article 24 of the recently approved Law 7/2023 on the Protection of the Rights and Welfare of Animals establishes the obligation to always treat animals according to their condition as sentient beings and to handle them with methods that do not cause them suffering, mistreatment or states of anxiety or fear, recalls Faada.
Article 25 of the aforementioned law also establishes that it is totally prohibited to use invasive methods and tools that cause damage and suffering to animals. And in section e) of the same article, the use of animals in tourist activities that imply anguish, pain or suffering is expressly prohibited.
Sandra Vega, Faada’s lawyer, has detailed that her organization has filed a complaint “with the Yaiza City Council, requesting that a disciplinary file be opened, attaching as evidence, in addition to the video, a veterinary report that corroborates the mistreatment of the baby dromedary”.
