Calls to ban 'cruel' use of live reindeer at Scots Christmas events

dailyrecord.co.uk:

An online petition has been launched in a bid to ban the “cruel” use of live reindeer at Paisley’s Christmas events.Gillian Howatson has started an online petition calling for a ban on the “voyeuristic” use of reindeer as “photo props” as part of Paisley’s Christmas celebrations.Gillian claims she has been in touch with Christmas event organisers, Paisley First, over concerns she has about the animals being used for entertainment purposes and states they “don’t have any reasonable justification” for allowing this, other than they want “small children to see a reindeer up close and get their photo taken”.Now, a petition on Change.org has gathered 130 signatures in just 24 hours calling on Renfrewshire Council to follow the lead of other local authorities and issue a ban on the use of reindeers at Paisley’s Christmas events and across the region.Gillian told the Express: “The events team continues to book 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.“They cause distress, fear and mental fatigue in reindeer, they are in an unnatural environment where there’s an inability to exercise natural behaviours, they face constant, unfamiliar and unpredictable interaction and long distance travel, repeated loading and unloading with the stress of transportation.“For years, numerous vets in the UK have expressed their concerns that reindeer are not suitable for a life in captivity in the UK.“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