Donkeys in the Santorini Island are Relieved; Overweight Tourists are Banned from Sitting on Them

Good news for the donkeys that are entitled to carry tourists on their back on the popular island of Santorini as the Greek government has lightened their burden from now on by banning the overweight tourists to sit on donkey’s back.

There is a tradition of carrying providing donkeys to the visitors of the Santorini Island as tourists who do not want to climb the ups and downs of the island can hire such donkeys and travel the steep slopes from the shore to the island's main town. This system is strongly criticized and questioned by the animal rights activists. The spinal injuries suffered by the donkeys too are pointed out by the activists which compelled the government to think and pass a verdict in favour of the working donkey population of Greece.

The Greek Ministry of Rural Development and Food instructed that the animals "should not be loaded with a weight excessive in size, age or physical condition."

However, this will be a partial relief for the donkeys as the government bans only the overweight people from riding on the donkeys. Anybody who wants to ride the donkey will have to weigh less than 100 kilograms (220 pounds) or one-fifth of the donkey's body weight.

The Santorini Island has steep terrains and as no car or other vehicles can run on its lanes for its narrow breadth, there is no other option for the tourists other than hiring the donkeys, if in case they are not willing to walk or cannot walk.

The poor condition of the domestic donkeys which are being used for earning money by its owners compelled the animal rights activists to send multiple complains to the government.

Mimi Bekhechi, PETA UK's director of international programs, said, "Donkeys can still be forced to carry a person weighing 15 stone 10 pounds (100 kilograms) up more than 500 steep steps four to five times a day."