{"id":18534,"date":"2014-12-07T03:48:53","date_gmt":"2014-12-07T11:48:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/traveltips\/?p=18534"},"modified":"2014-12-07T03:48:53","modified_gmt":"2014-12-07T11:48:53","slug":"camel-rides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/traveltips\/camel-rides\/","title":{"rendered":"Camel Rides"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"img\"<\/p>\n

In\u00a0Huntington Beach\u00a0a bride & groom recently were called on the carpet for riding an elephant at their wedding ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort.<\/a> The city previously passed an ordinance that doesn’t allow this as it’s considered a form of cruelty. In Indian culture the elephant is a symbol of\u00a0good luck and is a popular part of weddings. Throughout California you’ll see pony rides for kids, people owning and riding horses, rodeos<\/a> throughout the state, and over a dozen zoos<\/a>. At the Living Desert Zoo in Palm Desert camel rides are offered for around $10. \u00a0If the animal rights organization, PETA, had\u00a0its way, most of California’s animal events and attractions would be eliminated. The organization publicizes its official stance on treatment\u00a0of animals and while published records show that the non-profit is doing a slightly better job of adopting animals in their shelter than past years (93%, or\u00a02,366 animals were\u00a0killed\u00a0in 2009 and\u00a0only\u00a02,175 or 82.4% were killed at the PETA shelter in 2013,) they are quite effective in changing laws and influencing public and business policies.<\/p>\n

PETA’S POSITION ON A VARIETY OF ANIMALS \/ TOPICS (as published on their website):<\/p>\n