Hertford Town Council are planning to use live captive reindeer at their Christmas Gala lights switch on this year on Friday,  23rd November. There are many other ways that Hertford residents could celebrate this Christmas without compromising the wellbeing of animals.

Reindeers are not easy to look after properly and are susceptible to stress and a host of health and welfare problems when kept in captivity. These are semi-wild animals, having them in a busy environment, surrounded by crowds, noise and lights at festive events will cause them immense stress. Reindeer are often subjected to extensive travel, being transported up and down the country for festive events adding to their stress. They have an innate desire to roam on a large stretch of land, however on captive reindeer farms here in the UK they are afforded a fraction of that space.

Government figures from 2014 to 2017, show that 571 reindeer were imported from Sweden, Finland and Norway to be used at events. Reindeer are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The species has faced a 40 percent decline in population over the past 21 to 27 years.

For many people, especially young children seeing a real reindeer can be exciting, however using live animals at events sends the wrong message to young people that animals are little more than living props.

Local authorities should not be fuelling the demand for reindeer hire encouraging more live wild reindeer being kept in captivity so they can be hired out for events. More importantly, the general members of the public can consider not going to events featuring live wild captive animals.

Please don’t forget these beautiful creatures once the festive period is over. We can all make a change and we can all stop the cruelty and exploitation of Reindeer in the future.