The largest animal rights organisation in the world has accused two university colleges of engaging in “harmful activity” after they announced plans to introduce a zoo-style room and puppy lounge for students over the exam period.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) says Alcuin and Halifax are subjecting animals to the “stress of travel, handling and confinement in mini-zoos on campus”.
They have called on the colleges to scrap their animal-related plans and are urging students to voice their objections to university bosses.
In a statement, they told Vision: “With a wide range of relaxing activities available in and around the university, it’s extremely disappointing that these two colleges are planning to subject animals to the stress of travel, handling and confinement in mini-zoos on campus.
“Even with the best possible care, these animals won’t be kept in their normal social or family groups, and being confined to a room will prevent them from enjoying natural behaviour, such as running, exploring, sunning, searching for food and bathing in the dust.
“There are countless other ways in which students can unwind during exam season without depriving animals of joy and putting them at risk. Perhaps the university would consider renting a trampoline or having massage sessions for the day? Mindfulness classes have also been shown to be effective at reducing students’ stress as well as leading to improvements in grades.”
They added: “We urge York’s students to contact the university to voice their objections to this harmful activity and encourage the university to engage in activities that do not exploit animals.”
Spokespeople for Alcuin and Halifax deny that they are exploiting the animals and insist their welfare are taken very seriously by the charities.
A spokesperson for Alcuin said: “As a college we seek to offer a range of activities that we feel will benefit students during high-stress periods such as during exam season.
“This year we have decided to go through Nuzzlets, a local York charity that provides a loving home for around 100 animals.
“Being an animal charity, they have the welfare of the animals as their main priority. The animals are in no way being exploited and there will be trained staff present on the day to ensure this.”
A spokesperson for Halifax added: “This work is still very much in progress and the College and HCSA will announce the plans once those are finalised.
“All of the proposals include highly-reputable charities that take welfare of animals very seriously (as, of course, do we).”
Alcuin College plans to open a display of animals into its JCR on the 8 May as part of an initiative to de-stress students over the exam season, which begins during Week 5.
Meanwhile, officials from Halifax College say they are hoping to open a puppy lounge before May 19 where undergraduates and postgraduates can go on a break from revision.
YUSU Welfare Officer George Offer said the effectiveness of animal-assisted therapy had “flawed methodology” and that there were “better ways to spend students’ money”. He told Vision: “If these events are being run under the guise of exam stress relief then it’s important to note that research into the effectiveness of animal-assisted therapy is, at best mixed and, at worst, has flawed methodology.
“That’s not to say puppy rooms or similar aren’t a welcome distraction from revision, just that if you want to make a meaningful difference in relieving exam stress there are better ways to spend students’ money.”
He added: “Having said that petting zoos etc have made excellent additions to college summer festivals in the past.”
But in 2013, PETA wrote to the vice-chancellor of the University of Leeds who cancelled plans for a petting zoo over the exam period after being told of the risks to both the animals and students.
And in March, the organisation, which has more than 3 million members and supporters, forced sabbatical officers at Stirling University to axe their plans to also introduce a petting zoo on campus to promote mental, physical, sexual and social health.
In a statement at that time, they said: “Petting zoos are a bad bet for students and for animals. Travel, confinement to small cages and rough handling cause animals intense stress.
“Exhibitors take young animals on the road and, if they survive the ordeal, typically dispose of them when they become older and more difficult to handle.
“At the same time, experts indicate that petting zoos are hotbeds of serious pathogens, including E coli and salmonella, which increase the risk of illness among human visitors.
“It’s good news that University of Stirling students will now get to unwind in ways that don’t harm animals or endanger their health.”
Meanwhile, Vision can reveal that Vanbrugh College also plans to have animals on campus.
The college says it is opening a miniature farm as part of its ‘De-stress for Success’ campaign.
Animals including a donkey, pygmy goats, lambs and pigs will be present to students on 28 May between 1pm and 5pm.
The college says it is funding the idea through welfare payments and some direct funding.
Information given to Vision says that the company Vanbrugh is using “have worked with the likes of Disney and Sky” and “are extremely professional and place a huge emphasis on ensuring the welfare of the animals”.
Michael Duncan, the JCRC chair, said: “Along with the university, who have approved this event, we are completely satisfied that our miniature farm will not endanger the welfare of any of the animals involved.
“In addition, it should be noted that it is intended purely as a break from revision and makes no claims to have any psychological or health benefits. If any students have concerns, they are more than welcome to discuss them with me.”
A spokesperson for the university did not comment on Alcuin College’s idea but of the puppy lounge, they said: “Interaction between humans and dogs can be beneficial for both species.
“However, it’s very important that the puppies are kept in conditions which don’t cause them any stress.
“I will ask our health and safety team to monitor these developments and make sure that the dogs are properly looked after.”
Claire Campbell, a management student, said: “Personally, I don’t see a problem with using animals. As long as their welfare is not at risk, then it shouldn’t be a problem.”
[poll=”48″]
“…introduce a petting zoo on campus to promote mental, physical, sexual and social health.”
… Sexual?
It might be bad, but it sure beats a Ham toastie. Don’t you think?
It’s PETA, they’re basically an extremist animal rights group. They campaigned againist Pokemon for crying out loud.
George Offer playing the role of pointless yusu officer perfectly. He’s managed to spend a year achieving nothing, watching passively as the Grenville grant was scraped. As soon as a student initiative demonstrating any degree of risk taking is criticised (by an extremist group) he does everything he can to distance himself and remind students just how boring yusu can be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4D1godY4vI
Enough said.
What i want to know is how Stirling uni thought a petting zoo would help promote sexual health…
I think it’s pretty disgusting that people who eat dead animals will turn up to these “mini-zoos” and coo over animals like lambs and chicks that they probably are happy to later on have brutally slaughtered for their dinners, just as long as they don’t have to see the gruesome part. If you’re going to treat these animals like you feel anything for them then don’t bloody eat them.
With the Halifax event, though, there’s much less hypocrisy as people generally don’t eat dead dogs, and if I understand correctly the welfare team are using a charity that really looks after the welfare of their animals in a way that farms never do. And the dogs used would not be involved by the charity if they were in any way uncomfortable at the events.
PETA (or Vision) seem to have forgotten to take into account the difference between a petting zoo and what Halifax are doing with their puppy thing…
Ignoring the fact of how vacant the article actually is, I’d like to point out how Leon and his cronies have officially created a red top newspaper out of something that used to be well respected. “Blasted” and “Fury”, really? I expect more from people who claims to be able to write at a degree level. Leon Morris is the new Kelvin Mackenzie – watch out for some biased coverage of the college cup.
Seems like more poor journalism from Vision, but I guess that’s to be expected eh? Rather than use this opportunity to criticise PETA (an organisation full of hypocrisy that seems to exist more to publicise animal welfare issues than to actually make an effort at tackling them) you have taken the easy, sensationalist route and decided to take an aggressive stance against the university and focus on the decision the colleges have made. This could have been a really good opportunity to stand up for a policy which at the end of the day is not nearly as bad as PETA is making out.
Alcuin is not opening a petting zoo. They are working with Nuzzlets to bring a few rescue animals to the college for a short visit. Nuzzlets requests small donations for such visits.
http://www.nuzzlets.org.uk/home/about
Does PETA regularly monitor the social events of Universities/Colleges, or has someone gone and told tales to them purely to get angry quotes and whip up outrage for a mediocre article?
PETA love animals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwm5UcGJ5wY
Unbelievable tripe from Vision again trying to stir up stuff and spoil things for students.
Alcuin are doing nothing harmful to animals. It is a small YORK based charity with small animals that have been reared as PETS. They are not wild, untrained, beasts being exploited and taken out of their natural environment or peddled over long distances in stressful, confined places.
Can’t comment on Vanbrugh and Halifax but Alcuin are certainly not doing what PETA are supposedly condemning them of.
Very poor journalism on Vision’s behalf, you need to actually use the true plans for events not just make up and tailor ideas to suit your sensationalising.
[This comment has been moderated]
The comment sections of these Vision articles tend to speak far wiser and more informed words than the articles themselves. The puppy lounge proposed first by the College Welfare team and seconded by the HCSA Welfare team is currently an idea that is being investigated carefully before any final decisions are taken. So far we are considering inviting Guide Dogs to Halifax College in the spirit of exam stress relief. In addition to this pleasant distraction from exam related stress guide dogs require social interaction with humans for their training. The welfare of both humans and animals is of utmost importance to the HCSA and the College team and we would never attempt to bring anything to the College or the University that would go against this notion.
Having yet to receive any direct complaints, comments or suggestions this idea is still in early stages of planning. As always the HCSA and College team welcome any suggestions and constructive criticism. If this is the case please email [email protected], [email protected] or College Admin.
Happy revising and Halifax love,
X
http://www.thesaint-online.com/2013/05/guide-dogs-meet-the-puppies/ Now here’s an article that speaks from experience.
Hang on – why are Halifax and Alcuin getting slated for this idea while Vanbrugh gets no criticism at all for doing a similar event? Why is Vanbrugh special?
Along with the university, who have approved this event, we are completely satisfied that our miniature farm will not endanger the welfare of any of the animals involved. In addition, it should be noted that it is intended purely as a break from revision for our students and makes no claims to have any psychological or health benefits.
If any students have concerns, they are more than welcome to discuss them with me by emailing [email protected]. However, whilst I am happy to discuss the event, I don’t see any reason to take lectures from an organisation such as PETA, which has both a dubious record of its own and, quite frankly, bigger fish to fry.
@Disgruntled
FOUND THE VEGAN
I think it would be better to create a ‘professor’ zoo.
Simply being able to point stare at these strange creatures called ‘academics’ aka ‘people that never grew up’ would be far more moral, entertaining and in the end, help students relax better. We could teach them tricks such as how to be a real adult and to do backflips. But ultimately, no one would have to pick up any shit, because the only shit would be coming out of their mouths.
Sound like a plan?
I support animal rights. Everyone should; it’s simply a question of to what extent.
I’ve previously written an article on this over at the Yorker:
http://theyorker.co.uk/comment/opinion/society/14580-why-speciesism-is-as-serious
Where do the animals come from? Nuzzlets sound ok: they look after unwanted animals. But what about the puppy lounge and Vanbrugh’s company? If they’re breeding animals solely for this purpose then that’s pretty irresponsible given that tens of thousands of animals (that charities like Nuzzlets and Battersea deal with) are abandoned each year:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20165182
Overall though, I’m fairly unconcerned about this. The animals will probably be ok.
As for PETA, they should focus on the harm done by eating animals. This is where by far the most suffering and abuse is inflicted, nevermind the waste of resources and pollution caused by farming animals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Eb2kt0fLLE
Vanbrugh are paying over £800 for their afternoon with animals. Is that really the best way of spending students’ money?