This is not a drill; you are reading this correctly. Pink sheep have found themselves at the centre of a raging row.
For years, the Latitude Music festival have been releasing dyed sheep out onto the grounds of Henham Park in Suffolk without any furore. The local authority, East Suffolk Council, have been clear that from an Animal Welfare perspective, they have no concerns about the activity and have confirmed that the water-based dye is completely safe. And if their ruling isn't enough, the photos added to the festival's various social media accounts hardly depict our woolly friends looking sad; as they munch away on the grass.
Regardless, this hasn't stopped PETA from kicking off online. They quickly branded the event as an 'attention grabbing stunt' and demanded it cease. Right, so the group that regularly dispatches hoards of naked protestors to scream and shout on camera precisely for likes and kudos on Instagram & Facebook, are accusing others of attention seeking. Pot Kettle much?
The RSPCA have also waded into the argument, joining in on the attack. They tweeted that the images of pink sheep grazing the lands are "sad to see" and that they would be "approaching the organisers" to outline their concerns. Why the RSPCA are joining in on a twitter pile-up ignited by political fanatics like PETA, is beyond me. Surely there are more serious animal welfare matters to attend to.
Yet again, we are witnessing a trial by social media with a complete disregard of the facts.
The media are quoting anonymous twitter accounts, with most outlets excluding the full response from welfare officers at the local authority; who have a longstanding working relationship with the festival organisers.
The exact quote from the local authority, which was covered in the Ipswich Star but appears lost in most other reports, is this:
"In our animal welfare capacity, East Suffolk Council has no concerns about the sheep this year or in the 14 years that this activity has taken place. We are entirely happy that the water-based dye is completely safe and that the festival organisers have taken all appropriate steps to ensure the animals are content, safe and well-looked after.
"As part of our wide-ranging licensing and environmental health responsibilities, the council takes the welfare of all animals very seriously and if we had encountered any issues or felt that the sheep were suffering distress of any kind we would not permit such an activity."
Considering the facts, the Latitude Festival organisers should stick by their decision to keep the sheep at future events and not capitulate to the orchestrated pressure-drive by the faux-outrage brigade on twitter.
My message is #KeepTheSheepPink.
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(Image courtesy of James Bass)