27th December 2024
Every year, throughout the festive season, we focus our attention on the problem of animals being used as props and attractions at events. By far the most commonly exploited animals in such events are reindeer. These gentle, sensitive animals are confined to trucks, vans, and trailers, and hauled around the country. They are then subjected to stressful and scary environments in Christmas events. Sometimes they are forced to pull a sleigh, parade through busy town centres, or simply made to occupy a small enclosure, surrounded by the prying eyes of spectators. It’s exploitative, unnecessary and cruel, and we stand against it every year.
For the third year in a row, we teamed up with our colleagues at Animal Aid, Born Free Foundation, and One Kind to research, monitor, and oppose events that planned to use live reindeer. We objected to event organisers with a joint letter demonstrating the ethical and welfare issues inherent in reindeer events. This was signed not only by the four charities, but by 21 other organisations, and was sent to the organisers of 287 events!
Our correspondence campaign was hugely successful this year, with 7 events cancelling their plans to use live reindeer over the course of the season! As well as this, 278 events that we had contacted in previous years to object to their use of animals held animal-free celebrations this year!
Sadly, despite this evidence of a huge movement away from using reindeer as props at Christmas, 131 events went ahead with their plans and reindeer were subjected to an ordeal as a result. We worked closely with the activists at Lancaster Animal Protection (LAP) to oppose one such event – ‘Reindeer Day’ hosted by Lancaster Business Improvement District (BID) at St Nics Arcade. We promoted LAP’s petition online and in the streets of Lancaster, speaking with sympathetic businesses who were happy to display our posters in their windows. We also supported their demonstrations, and when the day came, we were there to educate the public as to just why this event is so harmful. The reindeer on display were 300 miles from home, trapped in a small pen in a shopping centre for hours, just to serve as a marketing gimmick for businesses. Though the organisers went ahead this year, we hope and believe that, in light of the opposition they faced, they will make the responsible decision to host animal-free events only in 2025.
We have been opposing the industry at the heart of this exploitation too! In 2022 we asked our supporters to contact Wrexham Council to oppose a planning application for a new reindeer farm in the area, and the application was refused. The applicants appealed this decision, and this month the council confirmed that they have dismissed the appeal. This means the business will not be able to expand, all thanks to public action!
So what next for our long-term goals for ending reindeer events? We have plenty of ideas for 2025 and beyond, and thanks to meeting our target for The Big Give Matched Funding Challenge this year, we will have the resources to put those plans into action! That’s £6,000 to go towards investigating, monitoring and opposing cruel events! We will continue to work with our partners at Born Free Foundation, Animal Aid, and One Kind, until the heartbreaking sight of reindeer being used as scenery is a thing of the past!
A huge thanks to everyone who has taken part in this year’s campaign, whether you’re a colleague, a collaborator, an activist, a supporter, a donor, or anyone who’s reported or objected to an event this year. You made a difference. And we hope you’ll stick with us next year to carry on making the world a safer place for animals.
Discussion about this post