I can't believe that this actually happened but we've gotten to the point where people are doping their camels in the hopes of making them more beautiful.
I don't know what makes one camel better looking than another one but there are some people out there that have determined what is a perfect look for a camel, and certain breeders have been cheating by injecting the lips and heads with Botox.
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so lovely!
It happened just a few days ago in Saudi Arabia where the annual King Abdulaziz Camel Festival was taking place. This apparently very popular yearly event resulted in 40 camels being disqualified because the animals were determined to have been injected with botox and other substances to change the animal's natural appearance.
The event takes place over the course of a month and is wildly popular with camel enthusiasts... I presume. Whatever, I'm not going to be judgmental over what people choose to enjoy. We have massive dog shows in my country and to other cultures, this probably seems equally absurd. There is also nearly $70 million in prizes awarded so yeah, it's a really big deal. I don't think the Westminster Dog Show has that level of awards. They might, I don't care enough to find out but the highest prize I can find as far as dogs are concerned is the AKC Kennel Club championship which is awarded a paltry $50,000.
It was also discovered at the camel beauty contest that several of the competitors had actually given their camels facelift surgery. I am not aware of how it is that the judges were able to determine that the animals were not au natural, and they merely claim to have "specialized and advanced technology" to detect cheats.
It all seems very strange to me but hey, $70 million is a lot of money to most people!
Personally, I have only ever seen a camel in a zoo and my main takeaway from the situation was that they were very smelly. I also felt bad for them just like I do the rest of the animas that find themselves in zoos.