ANIMAL rights protestors campaigned outside a travel agents in Hereford against the company selling trips to attend SeaWorld.

In support of PETA's national campaign, members of Hereford Animal Protection gave leaflets to passers-by outside of Thomas Cook in Commercial Street on Saturday, January 13.

The campaigners are against the company selling and promoting packages to attend SeaWorld, a leading theme park in America.

PETA's national campaign says that SeaWorld "enslaves animals in tiny, concrete tanks at marine parks in the USA."

They say animals are often housed in lonely isolation or with incompatible tankmates, and the animals are denied everything that is natural and important to them.

However, SeaWorld says that for more than five decades, the SeaWorld Rescue team has provided a second chance at life to more than 31,000 animals, always with the goal of rehabilitating them and returning them to the wild.

A spokesman for Thomas Cook said: “We are the first organisation to remove animal excursions from sale as the direct result of auditing against independent welfare standards.

"So far this year, 12 attractions are on notice to improve their animal welfare arrangements or face Thomas Cook removing them from sale.

"By the end of next year all of our animal related excursions will have been audited and we will not be selling those which do not meet the required standards.

"We take our policy to raise animal welfare standards very seriously so that our customers can be confident in all of the trips that they take when on holiday with us.”