RSPCA urges holidaymakers to avoid ‘cruelty tourism’
RSPCA is calling on travel agency TUI to stop promoting SeaWorld.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has called on holidaymakers to avoid a number of animal experiences which involve animal cruelty.
Activities such as posing with tigers, riding elephants and swimming with dolphins have been linked with animal exploitation and suffering.
Under the Animals Abroad Act, holiday companies based in England and Northern Ireland are banned from advertising activities exploiting wildlife, which are illegal in the UK. However, because this law has never been implemented, some travel agents continue to advertise these experiences.
In 2024, the RSPCA joined other organisations to call for travel agents TUI to join the rest of the travel industry in rejecting venues keeping cetaceans, such as SeaWorld.
It explains that, in the ocean, orcas can usually swim up to 150 miles a day. However, in marine parks, they are kept in concrete tanks approximately 10,000 times smaller than their natural range.
Tourists are also asked to think carefully about the animal experiences they take part in when on holiday.
If a lion or tiger allows a tourist to get close enough to cuddle them, it is likely that they have been sedated with drugs to make them docile. Similarly, snakes, chimps and monkeys are often left in the sun without food and water while tourists take photos with them.
In some cases, a monkey may be taken from the wild as a baby from the wild and kept in inappropriate conditions for the use of photographers.
Elephant riding has also become a huge part of tourist activities in Asia. The elephants are often illegally captured for the tourism industry, where they are beaten until they are compliant.
These ‘breaking techniques’ can involve them being chained and tortured until they submit to demands. When not transporting tourists, they may be kept in unsafe conditions.
Among the other animal experiences the RSPCA advises against are swimming with captive dolphins, running with bulls and purchasing souvenirs such as ivory and animal skins.
David Bowles, head of public affairs at the RSPCA, said: "Riding an elephant, swimming with dolphins, cuddling a tiger cub, or taking a picture with a monkey may seem like a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but all of these can often have very serious animal welfare and safety risks for tourists. No animal deserves cruelty, wherever they are in the world - and all our fellow living creatures deserve our respect.
"If there is a demand for activities like these and money to be made, then cruel practices will continue, which is why we urge people to research the activities and, if in any doubt, look for ethical alternatives."
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Companies marketing medicines for small pets exempt from authorisation must submit their annual return to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) by 30 November 2026.
