In Saudi Arabia, camels are celebrated through the King Abdul-Aziz Camel Festival, an annual event that aims to consolidate and strengthen the camel heritage in the Saudi, Arab and Islamic culture.
The festival invites breeders of the “fairest camels of them all” to compete for the $66 million prize money.
Each camel is judged based on the shape of its head, neck, humps, dress and posture.
Though camels are already majestic as they are, the multi-million dollar industry of camel pageantry forces some breeders to do whatever they can to win even if it can be considered cruel.
According to The National, what distinguishes a beautiful camel is not just its height, shape and placement of its hump. “A full, droopy lip and large features are essential in achieving camel celebrity status,” the report said.
This year, 40 camels were disqualified from the contest after the authorities found out that dozens of breeders reportedly made cosmetic alterations to their camels to make them more “attractive”, which is strictly prohibited.
Aljazeera reported that some breeders had stretched out the lips and noses of camels and used hormones to boost the animal’s muscles.
Not only that, those camels were also injected with Botox to make their heads and lips look bigger. Rubber bands were also used to inflate body parts and fillers to relax their face.
“The club is keen to halt all acts of tampering and deception in the beautification of camels,” said in an Saudi Press Agency report. Organizers would also reportedly “impose strict penalties on manipulators.”
Sources: ABC News, MSN
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