Apalling Animal Cruelty

I have copied this from a travel forum in the hope that someone may be able to help with the campaign. The lady who posted is trying to help put a stop to barbaric animal cruelty so if anyone knows anything about this please let me know:

Can anyone help identify hotels ın the Alanya area that are takıng part in some very barbaric behaviour.

Apparently they are exploiting ıllegally captive chimpanzees for tourist entertainment. Without going into all the ins and outs of this it is totally unacceptable.

As these poor animals are smuggled into the country they have no health checks etc and pose a health risk.

WSPA has contacted the authorities but to no avail so far.

Please if you witness this report the hotel to the belediye/Zabita etc

But name and shame the hotels here! Apparently some have boards outside announcing these 'shows'

Thank you

Hi Adryath,

I don't know much about this, but I do know they use monkeys all over the world as props for photographers - Spain, Morocco, Thailand, the Caribbean etc....and although I don't agree with wild animals being used as entertainment, I wasn't aware it was illegal. How do they manage to smuggle them into Turkey?

I've been approached by a couple of photographers with monkeys on their shoulder (not in Turkey) and the animals didn't seem ill-treated, but then I never gave it much thought. I don't think it's right to use them for this purpose, though. They're wild animals and should be in their own habitat. I personally wouldn't let a monkey touch me, simply because they can carry some terrible diseases which can prove fatal to a human. Actually, Michael Jackson had a pet monkey as his best mate or something didn't he?

I actually love watching monkeys on TV or at the zoo - I find them fascinating. The little chimps I saw on holiday did seem fairly enervated when I think about it, so maybe the owners sedate them? It's shocking and cruel if they do that. I can't see how it can be stopped, though. It's been going on for years....

Strawbs

I think from the sound of it they are being used to perform in 'shows' for entertainment purposes rather than just for photos, a bit like the dancing bears they used to have some years back in Turkey. I have no idea how they are smuggling them in, they must drug them or something.

Oh, I didn't think monkeys could be taught to entertain? What do they do, actually? I've only seen the ones who sit on your shoulder for photographs. It isn't right, I agree. Monkeys love to run around and swing from branches, so it can't be nice for them. I'm still curious how they smuggle them into Turkey, though? Sedating them wouldn't help them smuggle them in. All the trucks that go through customs are X-rayed and physically checked; maybe they smuggle them in by car? But surely they check the cars too?

Where do they bring them in from, I wonder?


Strawbs

Africa

Unfortuntely Turds have a fascination with money that runs deeper than I have ever witnessed or observered in people of any other nationality. They will do whatever necessary to get their greedy grasping hands on as much of it as possible.

They don't seem to care what they have to do to get it, or who they hurt in the process.

Whilst I was in Marmaris last month I saw for the first time a Turk walking down Long Beach with a monkey. I find it disgusting as these animals should be left in their own habitats and not made the subject of money making projects.

Turkish bars/restaurants often use tortoises, kittens, puppies or any other animal to entice customers into their establishments. At the end of the season, these animals are then disposed of. I know in the bazaar they poison all the cats and they die a terrible death.

As a lot of members know, I have been to South Africa a couple of times and visited the Kruger National Park. The park is the size of Wales, but there are enclosures with accommodation usually in the form of rondavels surrounded by swimming pools, restaurants etc. Wild monkey's would regularly raid your accommodation and jump on table to steal milk and food. They carry untold diseases, not to mention the woman who kept a monkey and treated it like her child, her friend came over to try to calm the thing down one evening and had her face ripped off. The poor woman recently revealed her face on the Oprah show.

All wild animals should be left in their own natural habitats and tourists should not encourage these touts by paying for photographs with monkey's or indeed camel rides etc. Any bar that has animals to encourage customers should be avoided like the plague.

Ruby