Sign this petition to urge Renfrewshire Council to reconsider allowing the use of live reindeer at Paisley's Christmas events and cease the use of live reindeer for any future events.

The council continues to allow the booking of these majestic animals to act as mere photo props in the busy town centre. These types of events are detrimental to the welfare of reindeer due to:

• distress, fear and mental fatigue in reindeer
• the unnatural environment
• inability to exercise natural behaviours
• constant, unfamiliar and unpredictable interaction
• long distance travel, repeated loading and unloading and the stress of transportation.

For years, numerous veterinarians in the UK have expressed their concerns that reindeer are not suitable for a life in captivity in the UK. Poor body weight, weight loss and muscle atrophy are commonly reported problems in captive reindeer.

It is much more valuable that our local authority teaches our children to care for and protect animals in their natural habitats and admire them from afar, than promoting a voyeuristic experience for the public to see confined animals up close who may be suffering from distress. 

Many councils have taken the decision to not feature live reindeer in their Christmas celebrations this year. Ask Renfrewshire Council to do the same and reconsider their decision to allow the display of these beautiful animals so that no animals need suffer for festive fun!

For more information and to read the latest report on this disturbing practice please visit OneKind and use their letter template to contact event organisers and your local councillors directly. 

RSPCA Senior Scientific Manager in wildlife Dr Ros Clubb says:

"As Christmas approaches, we and other animal welfare charities are really concerned that reindeer used in festive events across the country could be suffering in silence. Reindeer are kept here in the UK year-round but we always see more calls about them in the build-up to Christmas, which is when they are taken out to be on display at festive events.

We understand that it must seem magical for people to see a reindeer at Christmas, but the reality is reindeer are not easy to keep well and need specialised care - they get stressed very easily and are very susceptible to many health and welfare problems.

In the wild, they are prey animals so they naturally hide their illnesses, and we are concerned many owners may not realise their reindeer, which are attending stressful, busy festive events, are poorly or may not be able to spot the problems until it is too late.

These animals are semi-wild and not the same as deer that are native to the UK and it is much more difficult to meet their needs in this country. Unfortunately, there are no formal requirements for registering reindeer and so we don't know how many are being kept and where.

They're not suited to being kept in very small groups in confined spaces and they are vulnerable to a host of health and welfare problems in this country. There's also a concern that those keeping small numbers of reindeer on small holdings to make money from them at seasonal events are unlikely to have the specialist knowledge needed to care for these animals properly."