Roxy Jacenko under fire for Pixie and Hunter’s elephant ride on a family holiday in Phuket Thailand

Roxy Jacenko has landed herself in hot water by posting an Instagram video of her daughter and son riding elephants at a beach in Thailand.

The celebrity publicist, who is currently holidaying in Phuket with Pixie, 10, and Hunter, 8, has been accused of supporting Thailand’s notoriously cruel elephant entertainment industry. 

Her followers were infuriated she captioned the video ‘What an amazing experience’.

Roxy Jacenko (pictured) has landed herself in hot water by uploading an Instagram video of her daughter Pixie, 10, and son Hunter, eight, riding elephants at a beach in Thailand

The celebrity publicist, who is currently holidaying in Phuket with her children (pictured here on the elephants) has been accused of supporting Thailand’s notoriously cruel elephant entertainment industry

‘Amazing? This is cruel and should be banned!’ one commented.  

‘Please do not promote elephant tourism. They need to be protected, not used for our entertainment. The kids will gain much more by being educated about this’, another wrote. 

One person  pointed out that the elephants looked to be ‘tied together’ in the video, before adding: ‘Oh dear lord wish I could unsee [this].’ 

Several critics threatened to unfollow Roxy’s account while others urged her to visit an ethical elephant sanctuary instead. 

A handful of users gave Roxy, 42, the benefit of the doubt however, politely asking her to reconsider riding elephants in future. 

‘What an amazing experience’, she captioned the clip, adding the Thai flag emoji

Roxy was quickly slammed by users commenting on her post

‘I am sure your kids loved it and were very gentle but it is important to understand the unkind training behind this,’ someone advised. 

‘Maybe an error in judgment in participating in this experience. Please don’t be an advocate for breaking the souls of these innocent animals,’ another user begged. 

Only one user came to Roxy’s defence, writing: ‘Woah calm down everyone, she’s done nothing wrong!!

Only one user came to Roxy’s defence, writing: ‘Woah calm down everyone, she’s done nothing wrong!! ‘I bet you all eat meat and wear leather so don’t be hypocrites!! @roxyjacenko enjoy your holidays never mind the [self] righteous haters’

‘I bet you all eat meat and wear leather so don’t be hypocrites!! @roxyjacenko enjoy your holidays never mind the [self] righteous haters,’ they added. 

Roxy has since deleted the video. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to her for comment. 

The cruelty of Thailand’s elephant entertainment industry is well documented. 

The country’s elephants once hauled teak for the prosperous logging industry but when machinery was developed, locals put the animals to a different use.

See also  Watch MSU gunman Anthony McRae calmly stalk campus during deadly shooting rampage

Roxy is pictured with her two children – Pixie, 10, and Hunter, 8

The cruelty of Thailand’s elephant entertainment industry is well document. The country’s elephants were once used to haul teak for the prosperous logging industry, but when machinery was developed to do this job instead, locals looked to put their animals to a different use. Elephants are pictured at a tourist park south of Chiang Mai in Thailand’s north 

Elephants became a major attraction and now over 12.8 million tourists a year travel to Thailand to ride, wash and take selfies with elephants.

The life of a ‘domesticated’ elephant begins with a process called ‘crushing’ that is every bit as unpleasant as it sounds.

Animals are tied to short chains, beaten with bull hooks and other sharp implements and underfed in order to make them behave. This continues for the rest of their lives in captivity.

The animals are often forced to perform circus tricks in front of tourists. Elephants are pictured performing with hoops and nooses around their necks at a tourist park south of Chiang Mai in Thailand’s north