Harry’s Girl killed at Royal Ascot – another victim of this abusive industry
Posted 18 Jun 2025
Posted on the 3rd February 2025
Footage of festive events obtained by the reindeer coalition (Animal Aid, Born Free Foundation, Freedom For Animals and OneKind) and their supporters was sent for review to Dr Tayla Hammond, an expert in animal welfare research and education. The findings highlighted significant and concerning welfare issues and confirmed that festive events are no place for animals.
The key findings include:
Behavioural Interaction
Nina Copleston-Hawkens, Animal Aid Campaign Manager, said:
“This new analysis of reindeer welfare by Dr Tayla Hammond highlights the suffering that reindeer endure in the name of ‘festive entertainment’. It is hard to imagine how stressful these events must be for reindeer – taken to a busy environment, surrounded by unfamiliar sights and smells and excitable people demanding interaction, and so often a long and gruelling journey away from where they live.
“Indeed, it is saddening that even when the bright lights of the festive season are over, so many reindeer return to their lives in captivity – a life so at odds with the life they should be living in the wild. There is nothing merry or magical about diminishing an animal’s life for the sake of entertainment. It’s time for festive events around the UK to go animal-free.”
Find out more on OneKind’s blog (and watch some of the footage)
Thank you to OneKind for the photograph above – taken at a festive event in Glasgow 2024.
Posted 18 Jun 2025
This week (17th-21st June) sees Royal Ascot unfurl: an event in the flat-racing calendar which has become shrouded in associations with ‘royalty’, ‘glamour’ and ‘elitism’. However, behind this fairy-tale veneer lies a disturbing reality –...
Posted 16 Jun 2025