To put aside the fatshaming for a minute (Shertards trying to virtue signal their physical prowess), these donkeys are severely abused regardless of the weight of the rider. Apparently it's been a debated issue for a while.
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The Santorini donkeys work exhausting eight to ten hour shifts, in temperatures rising up to 40C, under the brutal Greek sun, with their coats matted with sweat and some of them stop to lick the stone walls that lie in shadow for vital moisture. Most of them are not given water or food while they work, because those picturesque cobbled steps need to remain urine and feces free…
In May, animal welfare workers visited the Greek island to plead for better conditions for the animals and to educate owners, and the donkey Sanctuary paid for cloth screens to create shade for the donkeys at the top of the walk but they have been poorly maintained and have become detached.
A video posted on social media last week showing a donkey overloaded with garbage bags, struggling to walk triggered a storm of outrage, and the mayor of the island, eager to rescue the island’s reputation, claimed that it was an isolated incident! Ermmm..no, it wasn’t.
The Greek government worries more about
donkeys tax evading than it does about their living and working conditions, and those animals are a tourist trap for people around the world who make the most of the Greek experience by riding one of them.
Animal activists ask for the practice to stop, and that raises the question: what will happen to the animals after they are no longer making profit?
