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Ikea under flre for selling reindeer meat

Bv Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent Wednesday, 3 December 200S

Ikea has been accused of condoning cruelly to animals_1_selling salami madę from

Santa's four-legged sleigh-pullers, reindeer.

Unlike a traditional reindeer hunt, modem ranchers buz/ over the animals in helicopters, herd thein with snowmobiles and truck them hundreds of miles, causing them ntental and physieal stress.

Around 70 per cent of Swedish reindeer slaughtered are calves,_2_means they die without

seeing snów, claims the animal welfare group Viva!.

Ikea sells 130g of reindeer salami for £1.75 and lOOg of reindeer slices for £2.25 in its Swedish food hall, which features other national dishes such as rye bread, meatballs, and almond cake.

Viva!, a vegetarian campaign group based_3_Bristol, said: "We are ealling_4 the

company to withdraw sales of the meat, due to the cruel exp!oitation these wild animals sufler _S_the hands of hunters."

Viva! has already persuaded supermarkets not to stock kangaroo and other exotic meats which can be reared and killed in_6_that would be illegal in the UK.

Its letter to Ikea cited evidencc from a study by Uppsala University in Sweden in 2005 that found reindeer hunting caused "considerable physieal and mental stress".

_7_ a paper, Claes Rehbinder and Jann Mau, of the Department of Neuroscience, wrote:

"The inereasing stress associated with herding, corralling, and physieal restraint of less and less tamę animals results in lesions and elevaled blood cortisol concentrations."

Viva! cantpaigns manager, Justin Kerswell, said: "We are very concerned about the

exploilation of wild animals for meat. As well as being chased 8_the land and air, once

they are caught, their misery doesn't end there. In Sweden, some reindeer face a gruelling

journcy of__9_to l.OOOkm to the slaughterhouse where they face anything_10_a

humane end.

"Morę than 70 per cent of reindeer slaughtered for meat are calves that have grazed during the summer, which means they ncver_11_get to sec snów."

He added: "We urge the company to 12 an ethical example of goodwill by dropping the

sale of reindeer meat, instead of supporting an industry spreading pain and suffering, not happiness this Christmas."

Ikea, which has 17 Stores in the UK, denied it was cruel, saying it strove to_13_animal

welfare standards.

"In_14_of transporting reindeer to the abattoir, our supplier follows the same law applying

to all other domestic animals in Sweden which sets maximum transport litne and breaks, access to water and so on."

The statement said the claim that 70 per cent of the animals were calves was "a national figurę for Sweden" and not specific_15_Ikea.

Reindeer meat is popular in the Scandinavian countries, where favouritc dishcs include reindeer meatballs and reindeer sausage.