24 September 1999

Charity urges tourists to be its 'eyes and ears' against animal cruelty abroad

The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) is appealing to Australian holidaymakers for help in its work to protect animals from suffering, with the launch of a practical guide to the steps that tourists should take when faced with animal cruelty.

"Almost anywhere that tourists go, one sector of the local economy will find a way of extracting their money by exploiting animals and WSPA receives hundreds of reports on animal cruelty abroad from tourists each year," says Kylie Jones, Regional Manager, WSPA Australia and New Zealand.

Around the world today, rare species continue to be savagely killed for souvenirs and thousands of animals are imprisoned in zoos and circuses for entertainment. Wildlife habitats are also under threat, being damaged by careless day trippers or by the uncontrolled development of tourist facilities.

WSPA's guide, 'Tips for the Compassionate Traveller', provides useful suggestions on how to react if faced with animal cruelty abroad, such as:

• Boycott any events that involve animal cruelty, such as bullfights in France and Spain and dancing bears in India.
• Complain there and then to the local authorities and tourism representatives, then inform the tour operator and WSPA on your return from holiday.
• Never pay to have your picture taken with an animal and refuse to buy products made from endangered species.
• Resist the temptation to feed strays, as this encourages them to become a nuisance.
• Document what you see, with photographs and/or video if possible, making a note of the type of cruelty and animals involved, location and date.

Andrew Dickson, WSPA Chief Executive, said "Tourists can be our eyes and ears in many situations and the information that we receive from them is invaluable in helping us to protect animals around the world. For instance, the tip-offs that we received about dancing bears in Greece and Turkey helped us to undertake a series of dramatic bear rescues and successfully end this form of animal cruelty in these countries."

One of the world's largest animal protection charities, WSPA (pronounced wis-pa), has consultative status at the United Nations and the Council of Europe and works in co-operation with over 350 member societies in over 70 countries to promote animal welfare and conservation.

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Available on request:

• Colour transparencies.
• Interviews with WSPA staff.

Please contact:

Anne Lloyd-Jones, WSPA, on (02) 9901 5277 or 0404 066 498 during business hours, or e-mail annelj@wspa.org.au.