Animal Welfare Policy

I am committed to responsible tourism and the protection of animals affected by travel.

I ensure that every animal experience I sell or recommend meets the highest standards of welfare, conservation, and ethics and will not sell anything that I deem does not fit these standards, offering alternatives wherever possible.

Animal welfare concerns both the mental and physical health of an animal.
I have used the Five Domains of Animal Welfare model which are universally known principles for defining basic welfare needs, in forming these guidelines:

Nutrition: Animals should be provided with a proper, natural diet and constant access to water.
Environment: This should be as close as possible to that occurring naturally in terms of temperature, noise, freedom of movement and comfort.
Health: Animals should be monitored and kept free from disease, injury and mental distress.
Behaviour: Animals should have varied, novel and engaging environmental challenges through sensory inputs, exploration and socialising.
Mental State: By presenting positive situations in the previous four functional domains, the mental state of the animal should benefit from predominantly positive states, such as pleasure, comfort or vitality, while reducing negative states such as fear, frustration, hunger, pain or boredom.

I Do Not Sell or Promote:

Direct contact with wild animals such as elephant riding, washing, walking with lions, or swimming with dolphins.
Performances or shows using wild animals such as circuses or marine mammal shows.
Photo opportunities with wild animals such as tiger selfies or direct animal interaction. Animals used for these are often drugged or mistreated into obedience.
Animal fights, races, or sports including bullfighting, dog fighting, rodeos or ostrich riding etc.
Captive breeding of wild animals for commercial products such as civet coffee, bear bile, turtle, or crocodile farms.
Hunting or fishing for trophies, sport, or entertainment.
Activities where animals are baited such as Whales Shark encounters or Cage Diving.

I monitor and only choose ethical providers of the following:

Accredited sanctuaries and rescue centres that operate to the highest welfare standards (e.g. GFAS-certified, World Animal Protection-aligned).
Responsible wildlife watching tours that observe animals at a respectful distance, following local and international guidelines.
Accredited zoos and aquariums that are WAZA members and do not keep cetaceans or use wild animals for direct contact or performances.
Animals for transport such as horses, huskies and other animals bred for transport. Only using suppliers that have proven welfare policies in place using the above framework.