‘Don’t treat them like decorations’: reindeer at risk over Christmas
Wildlife groups plead with public to snub venues or grottos where the animals are penned in
‘Reindeer ... are not suited to being kept in very small groups in confined spaces and they’re vulnerable to a host of health and welfare problems in this country’
WHILE Christmas is not complete without Rudolph, Santa’s grottos should avoid using live reindeer, animal welfare organisations have said.
Keeping the herd animals in a confined space and forcing them into areas with loud noise can help trigger stress that can lead to damaging the deers’ fertility, according to the RSPCA and the British Veterinary Association.
Thousands of people have planned to go to reindeer attractions this Christmas, including grottos at pubs, garden centres and shopping complexes.
Those going to events have been warned not to “treat animals like Christmas decorations” and urged to avoid grottoes with live reindeer.
Specialist deer vets report a range of problems in reindeer kept in the UK, including a lack of weight gain, weight loss, diarrhoea, poor muscle development, poor antler growth, malformed antlers, low fertility and high calf mortality.
Daniella Dos Santos, the president of the British Veterinary Association, said they are at risk of severe health problems if kept in grotto conditions.
She told The Daily Telegraph: “Reindeer are highly adapted to life in the Arctic but can be at greater risk of health problems in warmer climates, so it’s imperative to give due care and attention to meeting their very specific welfare needs.
“Keeping them in enclosures can make them more susceptible to intestinal parasites and other conditions commonly found in cattle and sheep, but they tend to suffer worse reactions as they have lower immunity to unfamiliar germs. Failing to cater for a reindeer’s very specific nutritional needs can also exacerbate health issues, so handlers should give them energy-rich lichen in the winter and avoid foods that they aren’t used to.” Ms Dos Santos added: “We are also urging brands to avoid portraying reindeer in a domestic setting in their Christmas adverts, to make it doubly clear that they are semi-feral herd animals that need to live in an appropriate environment.”
Dr Ros Clubb, an RSPCA senior scientific manager in wildlife, added the events are “crowded and stressful” for the animals, and explained: “Unfortunately, the reindeer that do make it over here can have a poor existence.
“They are not suited to being kept in very small groups in confined spaces and they’re vulnerable to a host of health and welfare problems in this country. There’s also a concern that those keeping reindeer on smallholdings to make money from them at seasonal events are unlikely to have the specialist knowledge needed to care for these animals properly.”
The sensitive animals “suffer greatly” at these attractions, according to World Animal Protection. It said: “In their natural environment, reindeer live in herds and are constantly moving and foraging for food, which keeps them fit and healthy. Housed by themselves with little space to roam, and fed an unfamiliar diet, reindeers at Christmas attractions suffer not only physically but mentally, too. The crowded, noisy environment of the Christmas grotto is nothing like the natural home of reindeers, and their life here is very different to the one they should be living. This is unacceptable, especially when it is in the name of entertainment.”
The sight of reindeer pulling sleighs “ruins Christmas” for Elisa Allen, the director of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
She said: “What could ruin the magic of the season more than seeing stressed animals confined to cramped pens, tied up, or harnessed and forced to pull people around on sleighs? Reindeer are intelligent, gentle animals meant to roam free over vast ranges – not be carted up and down the country as if they were props to be paraded about and gawked at under bright lights in shopping centres filled with noise.”