A video of a large crowd of people standing in line for a pony ride at a northern Israel zoo surfaced online on Tuesday and raised concerns of animal cruelty as they were seen being worked for hours without being given proper rest or water between rides.
"We've arrived at Hay Park this morning, and I could already see the place was extremely crowded," said Noa Avraham, who shot the video while visiting the Kiryat Motzkin zoo with her family.
"Later we stopped to rest near a kiosk where crowds of people were waiting to go for a ride on several camels and three small ponies. People skirmished over who would get on them first.
"I sat there close to two hours. During that time, [the animals] didn't get any rest, and I didn't see anyone giving them water. Even when the animals did not want to go for a walk and were exhausted, they were pushed by force."
Avraham said that the zoo was exceptionally crowded since many Israelis were on vacation because of the holiday of Passover.
"It was a difficult sight, and I could not keep silent. When I left, there was a police car parked there that closed the place due to overcrowding," she said. "This is not the first time we went to Hay Park, but I have never seen the place this crowded. It should be better prepared and supervised during the holiday."
The Hay Park management said in response that it was looking into the complaints.