PETA to Radio City: Let Our ‘Camel’ Star in the Christmas Show, Not a Real One

For Immediate Release:
September 25, 2025

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

NEW YORK –

Ahead of the Christmas Spectacular, starring the Radio City Rockettes, PETA this morning sent a letter to the Executive Chairman and CEO of Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp., James L. Dolan, asking him to high kick the live-animal Nativity scenefrom the show and use costumed human performers instead. If Dolan agrees, PETA will help make this year’s performance truly spectacularby sending its own costumed “camel” to dazzle audiences, while sparing real camels and other animals the stress and confusion of being treated like props.

As PETA points out, the camels, donkeys, and sheep used in the show are typically crammed into trucks for a terrifying trip to the city, where they’re stored backstage like inanimate objects for months and subjected to loud sounds and disorienting lights. Additionally, animals exploited for live shows are commonly threatened and intimidated by their handlers—many use abusive tools to make them obey commands out of fear of physical punishment.

“Treating camels, donkeys, and sheep like moving set pieces, instead of respecting them as the thinking, feeling beings they are, flies in the face of the Christmas spirit,” says PETA President Tracy Reiman. “PETA urges the Christmas Spectacular to bring comfort and joy to all by using only talented human performers, and we stand ready to assist.”

*A camel tied up backstage at Radio City Music Hall. Credit: PETA*

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.