The Saudi Press Agency recently reported that over 40 camels were disqualified from the annual camel fest, the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, which started on December 1 in the desert close to the Saudi capital Riyadh.
According to a Newsweek report, authorities in Saudi Arabia have done their largest-ever "crackdown on touched-up camels."
The said camels were eliminated from the competition after their breeders inoculated their animals with Botox.
The protein, frequently used for human health and cosmetic procedures, is frequently injected into camels through their lips and noses. Other procedures camels went through were hormone injections, facelifts, and body inflation.
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Camels compete in the beauty pageant of the annual King Abdulaziz Camel Festival in Rumah, some 160 kilometers east of Riyadh.
Unnaturally Modified
In 2018, the son of a popular camel breeder told The National, local newspaper, during the event, why such modifications are very famous.
Ali Al Mazrouei explained breeders are using Botox for the lips, the upper and lower lips, the nose, "and even the jaw." It's making the head more inflated, so it has a big head, big lips, and a big nose when the camel comes.
This year's reiteration of the camel fest is not the first to conduct such a crackdown on altered camels. More so, in 2018, 12 camels were disqualified from competition following the discovery of the authorities and judges of their being unnaturally modified by their breeders.
A year after, only seven camels were banned from the competition, and the number of refusals that happened during last year's event remains unknown. Nonetheless, the staggering 43 in this year's contest is by far the largest number of disqualifications observed during the event, ABC News said in a similar report.
Botox and Other Cosmetic Procedures
The said alterations can substantially impair camels. A few months back, a camel whose lips turned cracked and bleeding was captured by a camera after it was pumped with Botox.
The radical measures could be attributed to the major prize the top camels receive. In addition, the festival is doling out roughly $66 million as cash prize to the best-looking camels, a similar report from The Jerusalem Post specified. Judges identify the best camels by studying their bumps, heads, postures, dress, and necks.
The camel fest is a protruding part of the event in 2000. The festival was initiated to preserve the importance and history of camels in the entire United Arab Emirates, specifically for the Bedouin nomads.
Other parts of the festivity that attendees can participate in comprise a massive bazaar and camel races. It's ongoing until January 12.
Botox in Animals
Researchers have revealed that an appalling 400,000 animals each year are suffering and dying in "controversial Botox poisoning tests," the Cruelty-Free International site reported.
According to the science paper Botulinum experiment on animals remains Europe-wide issue published recently presents that amidst the progress in humane substitutes in recent years, the number of animals utilized in cruel Botox testing throughout Europe stays at record levels.
Even though mostly applied cosmetically, EU law does not define Botox as a cosmetic since it is injected instead of applied to the skin.
Such a loophole means that hundreds of thousands of mice have been used and killed in Botox testing each year.
In these horrifying tests, mice are inoculated with poison before gradually suffocating them to death through paralysis of the muscles while completely conscious.
Related information about the festival is shown on VICE's YouTube video below:
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