ATHENS – While donkeys are still allowed to carry tourists in Greece, some of the animals have allegedly died due to the strain. However, a 75-year-old unidentified man was fined €30,000 ($30,060) after his donkey, tied to a rope, got tangled and died.

“This is the first time that the prosecutor’s office has described this heinous act, the slow and torturous death of an equine as a result of a heavy form of passive abuse, as a felony,” the Hellenic Donkey Center, a non-profit, said in a statement.

The man had been accused of tying the donkey to a tree in a field in Koropi, east of Athens, where it died after becoming entangled. There are no further details on how long it was left there, but the incident was reported to police, who arrested him.

Two other donkeys owned by the same man and found similarly tied to trees and suffering were surrendered to the Hellenic Donkey Center. The New Democracy government had vowed to get tough on animal abuse.

However, there was no reported response to a letter from American actor Anjelica Huston, an honorary member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis asking for a ban on donkeys carrying tourists on the island of Santorini.

She complained that they were subjected to cruel mistreatment by being forced to carry tourists up 500 steps from the harbor to the old town of Fira, a popular attraction that is lucrative to the owners.

In the summer of 2022, PETA Germany conducted an undercover investigation which revealed that donkeys are still being forced to carry heavy loads of tourists up and down stairs in the blazing hot sun for hours without proper rest, food, or water.

“They are treated like machines rather than sentient beings and are often beaten and whipped by their handlers to keep them moving while being forced to wear ill-fitting saddles that leave them with open wounds,” the site said.

“Profit-driven owners often allow heavier riders, placing great strain on the animals’ backs and joints. This has grave consequences for the donkeys: if they become too weak, they are often abandoned to die,” the site said. The owners are not fined.