Animal Welfare Guidelines for Tiqets

Tiqets is here to bring people more ways to experience culture around the world. One of those ways to experience culture is by watching or interacting with animals. For our venue partners who offer experiences that involve animals, Tiqets takes the well-being of these animals seriously and is committed to ensuring their proper treatment.

To this end, we regularly check that the animal-related attractions listed on our website comply with the ABTA Animal Welfare Policy, underlining the Five Freedoms: Practice standards. We will remove attractions that do not meet these established guidelines.  

The practical guidelines are in line with the Animal Welfare Guidelines edition 2020 from the ABTA Travel Association. Tiqets will defer the guidelines of the ABTA for any situations our guidelines don’t explicitly mention.

The foundation of the animal welfare policy are the The Five Freedoms which are the internationally accepted standards of care that affirm every living being's right to humane treatment:

Good Feeding: Animals must be free from prolonged hunger or thirst.

Good Housing: Animals’ living environment must provide ease of movement for its inhabitants, as well as comfortable areas to rest and temperatures that are suitable for their needs.

Good Health: Animals must be free from injury or disease, and must not be subjected to pain for any reason other than their own medical care.

Freedom of Expression: Animals should display a positive emotional state, good relationships with their human carers, and be able to express behaviors that are natural to them.

Protection from Fear: The animals must be free from fear, distress, and apathy. They should have the ability to seek privacy and refuge away from humans and be free from any surgical or physical modifications resulting from anything other than genuine medical treatment.

All Tiqets partners must ensure these Five Freedoms for their animals at all life stages, both on- and off-exhibit, by employing management practices and species-specific enclosures that meet the physiological, emotional and behavioural needs of the animals.

Animal swim programs

Tiqets allows experiences that offer swimming with dolphins in captivity or in the wild, or that include cage dives where animals are fed nearby, if they meet ABTA guidelines. ABTA recommends that contact with the public should be limited to 30 minutes, with a maximum of four sessions per day per animal, with at least one-hour rest periods for the animal in between sessions.

Animal riding

Tiqets allows animal riding on domesticated animals, such as horses. Tiqets does not allow animal riding on non-domesticated animals (e.g. elephants, ostriches, etc).

Animal racing

Tiqets allows venues that offer horse races if they adhere to Five Freedoms. Tiqets does not allow venues that offer races with other animals such as greyhounds, bulls, etc.

Zoos and Aquariums

Tiqets allows venues such as zoos and aquariums as long as they respect the Five Freedoms. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) keep an updated list of currently accredited zoos and aquariums who follow these principles.

Marine mammals in captivity

Tiqets allows venues that offer these activities as long as the facilities adhere to Five Freedoms, in line with ABTA’s manual for cetaceans (aquatic mammals, such as whales, dolphins, porpoises).

Sanctuaries

Tiqets allows sanctuaries that operate in the animals’ best interest, but does not allow:

- Using wild animals for direct interactions with travellers, or in performances or shows

- Buying or selling wild or wild-hybrid animals, or products derived from them

- Breeding wild animals or wild-hybrid animals, unless they are part of an official, recognized breeding program where the animals are being responsibly released back into the wild

Circus and animal performances

Tiqets does not allow venues that offer: 

- Performances or tourist interactions involving animals where training involves punishment or food deprivation, causes the animal fear, injury or distress, or the tasks are not based on normal behaviour

- The use of wild animals in circus acts or other types of attraction that use wild animals for this purpose. That means no bears riding bicycles, cobra charming shows, etc.

Occasionally there are animal acts in zoos or marine parks as part of a public education or awareness program, such as a penguin feeding in a zoo. These activities are allowed if they respect the Five Freedoms.

Animal kayaking

Tiqets allows venues that offer otter/dolphin/manatee/whale spotting, frequently on the west coast of North America.

Wildlife cruises

Tiqets allows experiences that offer animal spotting cruises from an unobtrusive, safe distance.

Animal cafes

Tiqets allows animal cafe venues with housing domestic animals, like cat cafes, where animals are in their “natural” environment. Tiqets does not allow exotic pet cafes housing non-domestic animals.

Taking photos with animals

Tiqets allows venues that take photographs with domesticated animals such as cats, dogs, horses, birds, or work/farm animals that are in their ‘natural’ environment. Tiqets allows venues that take photographs with non-domestic animals in specific cases, only if they respect the Five Freedoms, follow all national regulations and local government codes, and the animal is never drugged, baited, or intimidated into compliance.

Animal cruelty

Tiqets does not allow venues that offer products which involves direct exposure to practices that qualify as animal cruelty.

Educational tours of locations related to animals

Tiqets allows tours of venues that have or had animals in their care, such as bullfighting arenas, given that the tour is educational and shares the history of the venue rather than glorifying animal mistreatment. These tours should not involve animals themselves, but rather explain the history of the animals at the venue.

Feeding or touching animals

Tiqets allows venues that offer feeding or touching programs in a captive or natural environment such as zoo or aquarium touch pools used for education purposes, as long as the Five Freedoms are met and:

- Tourists are under the supervision of zoo, aquarium and or wildlife officials

- Animals are not in danger

- Animals are free to disengage from the activity at will

- The facility follows national regulations and code of practice set up by local governments

Tiqets does not allow venues that offer feeding or touching program in a captive environment (even under the supervision of officials or guides) if:

- Animals and visitors are placed in compromising situations

- Animals are drugged, baited, or intimidated or intimidated into compliance

- Activities include big cat interactions (like big cat walking, cub petting, and selfies with big cats)

Wildlife Products

Tiqets does not allow venues offering experiences involving the purchase or consumption of wild animal products. This includes the purchase of souvenirs and products like tortoiseshell, skins, horns, scales, and ivory, and food products like shark fin soup, turtle soup, whale meat, bear bile, (unethically sourced) civet coffee, bush meat, snake blood, and tiger wine.

Dog sledding

Tiqets allows venues that offer dog sledding, provided that the facility follows the Five Freedoms and the dogs are:

- Being treated humanely

- Physically fit and trained for the activity

- Provided with adequate living situations that protect them from variable weather

Experiences that violate these guidelines, threaten the safety of our guests, or risk the welfare and/or conservation of animals will be removed from the platform. We also urge all visitors to be responsible and respectful in their interactions with animals and follow the guidelines of the venue to keep animals safe and happy.

For all experiences, Tiqets offers 24/7 community support. If you come across an experience that violates the Animal Welfare Guidelines, threatens the safety, risks the welfare and/or conservation of animals, please contact us. If applicable, make a note of the date, time and location, as well as the type of animals involved in the experience.

Last updated: December 2020