In Italy it’s not illegal, but if you have a pedestrian crossing at less than 100m away and you don’t use it, police could give you a fine, but they rarely do it anyway, they just warn you or don’t even care.

If they cared about animal rights, they’d ban donkey rides entirely. They do it because a sick or dead donkey doesn’t generate profits. It’s all about money. Despicable.

For what I can remember, it’s because every state has a different VAT (and maybe it can differ from county to county), so it’s easier for them to display the base price and add VAT only at the counter.