'Idiot Sandwich' - Gordon Ramsay called out for riding tiny donkey
This week, a supporter alerted Brooke to a trailer running on Channel 4 for ‘Uncharted’ a Gordon Ramsay cooking and food culture show, where Gordon Ramsay is seen riding a donkey that’s far too small for him. If he had checked Brooke’s Happy Horses Holiday Code, he would have seen that he’d failed at the first step of considering animal welfare in tourism.
Step One: Match Sizes. Horses and donkeys in developing countries are not always as strong as you might think, so always match your size to that of the animal and ensure that your weight is evenly balanced when riding.
In series one episode two of Uncharted, set in Morocco and airing on Channel 4 tonight, the celebrity chef visits a family who own a donkey and decides he wants to ride it, and the family agree. He is clearly too big for the donkey, but does it anyway. Although the ride was only for a short time, and he did ask the family if the animal could hold his weight, Brooke believes more consideration should have been given to the welfare of the donkey.
Why take this risk? The young girl in the show told Gordon that she relies on the donkey to get her to school, like many children across the world. How would Gordon have felt if he’d injured her donkey?
Thousands of donkeys and horses work in tourism across the world, carrying people and pulling carts. It is important that we all practice responsible tourism, and being in the public eye means Gordon Ramsay has a duty to set a good example. We reached out to Studio Ramsay, who make the show, and Gordon Ramsay’s representatives, to ask what animal welfare protocols they have in place.
Sadly, this is not the first time we have called out Gordon Ramsay for questionable animal welfare in his shows. We previously highlighted a similar incident in ‘Gordon, Gino and Fred’s Christmas Road Trip: 3 Unwise Men’ where the three presenters sit on a cart pulled by a very small donkey.
Find us on Twitter @TheBrooke and help us tell Gordon Ramsay not to be an idiot sandwich. Let's get #IdiotSandwich trending!
