TripAdvisor Takes A Stand Against Animal Abuse

There is no stopping the use of animals for attractions - whether in the form of an aquarium, seaworld, or circus, until people actually stop going to them. Today, one of the world's most popular travel booking sites is taking a stand on these animals' welfare by stopping the sale of tickets to attractions that lets tourist ride or touch endangered species.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Trip Advisor is adopting the changes in early 2017, due partly to the pressure that they received from animal rights groups that are pushing them to stop selling tickets to attractions that they feel are exploiting these animals without offering educational value.

The booking site's representatives have declined to name the attractions that they will delete from their list, but they described them as the ones where tourists can come in contact with wild animals or endangered species such as elephants, tigers, and dolphins.

Brian Hoyt, the senior director of corporate communications for TripAdvisor said that the decision was not an easy one to make, but they did a lot of research and decided to push on, despite getting flak from a lot of people.

The company's president and CEO also said in a statement, "TripAdvisor's new booking policy and education effort is designed as a means to do our part in helping improve the health and safety standards of animals, especially in markets with limited regulatory protections."

National Geographic also reported that tourists aren't very good at determining whether or not a wildlife attraction is humane or not, which is why it is very important for the TripAdvisor to step up and educate its millions of users about animal abuse hiding behind the tourism industry.

This move from the web booking site came only several months after SeaWorld Entertainment announced that they will stop breeding their captive killer whales and would overhaul their shows for educational value.