Camel owners inject animals with Botox for beauty contest
In Saudi Arabia, camel owners are injecting their animals with Botox for beauty contests. 43 camels were disqualified due to manipulation.
The obsession with beauty has now reached the animal world.
Dozens of camel owners have been disqualified from a beauty contest in Saudi Arabia after allegedly enhancing their animals' appearance through cosmetic procedures.
Botox injections, facelifts, and other cosmetic procedures to make the camels more attractive are strictly prohibited. The judges determine the winner based on the shape of the animals' head, neck, hump, coat, and posture.
43 camels were affected, according to the state news agency. They had reportedly received Botox injections in their lips and had their skin tightened to conform to "prevailing beauty standards".
This year, authorities discovered that dozens of breeders had stretched the lips and noses of camels, used hormones to strengthen the animals' muscles, injected heads and lips with Botox to make them appear larger, inflated body parts with rubber bands, and used fillers to smooth out their faces.
According to the report, such procedures violate the rules of the animal beauty contest in the wealthy Gulf state. They also mislead potential buyers about the true appearance of the camels. The owners of the affected animals now face penalties.
The camel beauty contest is the centerpiece of a vast carnival that also features camel racing, sales, and other festivities, at which thousands of dromedaries are typically on display. The most beautiful animals are crowned. The spectacle takes place at the "King Abdulaziz Camel Festival" the role of the camel in Bedouin tradition and heritage is to be preserved, while the oil-rich country advances the modernization of mega-projects. According to local media reports, owners stand to win prize money totaling around 58 million euros.
Camel breeding is a multi-million dollar industry, and similar events take place throughout the region.
