Festive Events Campaign Success!

Action taken to protect reindeer this festive season has resulted in the cancellation of an event that planned to use live reindeer as props.

This Tuesday we took to social media to make our supporters aware of an event that planned to use live animals. Hundreds of you sent a polite email asking that the Christmas festivities do not use reindeer. The planned event would be good without the reindeer, children would still meet Santa and his elves and still get a present. 

The pub announced on their social media the next day that they have decided to cancel the entire event. That means one fewer event this year in which reindeer are forced to travel in cramped conditions, endure the unnatural environment of a pub, and be denied the opportunity to roam and graze as all reindeer should be allowed to do. Thank you to everyone who sent a polite request to the venue and helped to secure this outcome. You have contributed to a happier Christmas for reindeer this year.

Reindeer are incredible animals whose bodies are remarkably well adapted to live in their natural environment: the arctic tundra of Greenland, Scandinavia, Russia, and some parts of North America. They are herd animals and should never be found in groups of fewer than ten, but are more suited to being with dozens, or even hundreds of companions.

Reindeer should not be transported up and down the country, paraded through town centres, held in small pens in shopping centres or in pub gardens. These semi wild animals are not adapted to the busy streets or the sounds that these places create.