ATHENS – He’s known for rocking hard with group Motley Crue, but Greek-American drummer Tommy Lee has a tender side for animals and sent a letter to Greek Agriculture Minister Makis Voridis petitioning for a ban on donkey rides on the island of Santorini.

“I’m honored to have been born in Athens, and wherever I tour with Motley Crue, I proudly proclaim my Greek heritage. 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. I visited the island this summer on a yacht trip – we docked there for two days, and I refused to ride a donkey up to the city center,” the drummer said in his letter to Voridis, according to music website Billboard.

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“I understand that you have the power to stop this cruelty and make Santorini hospitable to both tourists and animals. Please put an immediate end to the old-school cruelty of ‘animal taxis’,” Lee added after photos showing donkey struggling to carry overweight tourists up a cliff there were on social media.