After visiting Santorini and seeing firsthand the cruelty that donkeys and mules used for “taxi” rides endure on the Greek island, Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee — who was born in Athens — sent Greek authorities a letter on PETA’s behalf this morning demanding an end to the practice.
“I’m honored to have been born in Athens, and wherever I tour with Mötley Crüe, I proudly proclaim my Greek heritage,” writes Lee. “But there’s an issue souring the reputation of Greece that I hope you’ll help resolve: the sickening abuse of broken-down donkeys and mules made to lug tourists up steep hills on Santorini.”
Lee goes on to point out the cruelty of forcing donkeys and mules to carry humans up and down the 500 steps from the port to Firá’s old town—and says that PETA Germany’s eyewitness exposé, which revealed that handlers whipped and hit donkeys and mules with sticks, animals were denied food and water, and donkeys and mules were forced to labor under the scorching sun, “haunts me.”
