Extremist threatens to burn down York pub – over visit of Santa and his reindeer
Santa and his reindeer will not be visiting a York pub this year – after an extremist threatened to burn it down if they showed up.
The Saddle Inn in Fulford had planned to bring Santa, his elves and two live reindeer to the beer garden in the pub this December, for the second year running.
The magical event had enchanted children last Christmas – but this year it has been called off following the threat.
Someone, believed to be a customer of the pub, posted news of the event to the Freedom For Animals campaign group.
It objected to the ‘unnecessary, cruel and outdated’ use of live reindeer, and urged its supporters to send a standard email to the Saddle Inn licensees, Steve and Rebecca Eccles.
They have since been bombarded by about 1,000 emails, as well as angry messages from abroad.
“The one that we’ve obviously taken seriously said that if this goes ahead as planned, we will burn the pub down with you in it,” Rebecca told YorkMix.
In the hands of police
Rebecca said she couldn’t believe it had come to this. “It’s ridiculous that we’ve got to this stage whereby we can’t even do something nice for children.”
She said she was an animal lover herself – “I’ve got very strong views on fireworks and those paper lanterns that people let off.”
“People are entitled to their opinion, and you have to respect that,” Rebecca said. “But you lose all respect, all goodwill and all understanding when you get the extreme versions of these activists who start threatening to burn the pub down on you.”
Steve and Rebecca, who live at the pub, wrote on social media: “It is now in the hands of the police, who have advised us to cancel due to some of the ‘known’ names on the emails we have received so far.”
She said the police are taking the threat seriously. And they can’t ignore it.
“Obviously, you’ve got to take it seriously – we’ve got to think of the safety of the children, staff, the customers, guests that are staying with us.
“If we go ahead with it, what happens if protesters turn up on the day? We can’t run the risk of children having to walk through protesters shouting at them.”
She said the post on the Freedom For Animals website had been misleading, showing reindeer in a pen.
“Our reindeers were never in a pen last year. They have the freedom of the bottom part of the garden that we cordoned off so children couldn’t approach them.”
She said she chose the group who bring the reindeer because they are a charity and care so well for the welfare of the animals, who live in 30 acres of land.
“They are experienced handlers, they walked the reindeer round, they threw food on the floor for them so they could forage and rummage around, they were perfectly happy.”
She was very disappointed having to cancel the event. “They’ve won, effectively,” she said.
Freedom For Animal’s response
A spokesperson for Freedom For Animals said:
“Every year we raise awareness about the plight of animals used as props in festive events.
“These animals are forced to endure cramped conditions, loud noises, and manhandling from the public, and we ask businesses to plan compassionate events instead, without the unnecessary exploitation of living, feeling animals such as reindeer.
“On Tuesday the 2nd of November we used social media to draw our supporters’ attention to one event in York, where a pub was planning on having reindeer on site for just this kind of event.
“We asked our supporters to contact the venue and politely ask that they continue their celebrations without the use of live animals.
“The pub owners have alleged that some of the communication they have received from members of the public have been threatening in nature. We as an organisation do not condone any threats of violence and would not encourage anyone to make any.”