SubscribeThe saddest pictures I’ve ever taken
by Darren
These aren’t my greatest work. I took them tonight at Hamleys, the store in the centre of London which is using these reindeer to flog toys at Christmas. And when they’ve finished with them, they’re getting in some penguins. I’m a [redacted] stone, big lump of bloke, and yet I have a tear in my eye as I look back at them and think of what this company is doing in the name of profits this Christmas.
That, and the fact that I was using a compact camera, without flash, and with ‘bouncers’ nearby, probably explains the appalling quality of the images, but I guess you’re not here to see beauty. There is nothing beautiful about this. It’s crass and stupid and selfish and cruel and horrid and abusive. In summary, it’s just plain wrong.
As an aside, apologies for the watermarks. I’m not proud of these images, I don’t need to ‘protect’ them like my other pictures, but I’ve spent quite a while trying to work out how to turn it off when uploading to the website and have given up – there’s more important things! If you want to use the pictures of Hamleys to help get the message out, please go right ahead.
Anyway, while I was there I spoke with a smug guy from marketing called Andrew. When I say spoke, mainly it was me asking and him refusing to answer. They still won’t tell us where they are coming from, but he did claim they were from a ‘local supplier’. Well first, the use of the word supplier tells you exactly what Hamleys think these reindeer are – a commodity.
Second, the word ‘local’ is not true. We know that because another member of Hamleys staff told me last night that the reindeer had spent six hours in a horse box on a motorway in a futile attempt to get them there in the bad weather. Clearly the decision to bring them was more about the bottom line and nothing about welfare. I digress, we were talking about motorways and ‘local supplier’.
Brent Cross (the start of the M1) is 16.2 miles away, and Google Maps says it takes 35 minutes to get there (presumably without traffic). The M4 is 8 miles away and 22 minutes. The M11 14 miles and 36 minutes. Add 6 hours to any of those figures (from what I understand they were stuck on the motorway when they turned around).
Hamleys have already shown us they don’t know where penguins come from (they think the North Pole) and now that they don’t understand basic words like ‘local’. They are claiming this stunt is to educate kids – do you want them educating yours?
Finally, there was a moderately funny moment when the security guard who was at Hamleys bellowed “If you don’t belong here, move on.” They were penned in, but I’m sure I saw the reindeer make a beeline for the exit!
So, if you’ve a strong constitution, read on and take a look at the pictures.
A masterclass in how to make profit, Hamleys style this Christmas.
First, put down some dodgy tarpaulin. Don’t worry about the edges – reindeer have strong hooves, and if they break a leg, we’ll get the ‘supplier’ to send another one pronto. Don’t want to lose any time, we’ve got toys to sell.
Watch out though. Reindeer can be quite bolshy if they’re locked up for hours on the motorway so they can sit in a 4m square pen to be gawked at and pawed by our customers. Don’t want them biting anyone, that would be bad publicity (and then we’d have to go into hiding for ages and pretend it doesn’t exist).
We need to give them food. In the wild they’d eat plants in the summer, fungus and algae in the winter, but we don’t want any of that mucky rubbish in our pristine store. That’s not going to encourage people to buy our stuff. Give em a washing up bowl full of whatever.
Add some moneyed up punters, and our job is done.
Pay here. Lovely jubbly.
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22 Responses to “The saddest pictures I’ve ever taken”
All content is copyright © 2010 Darren Hector, please do not use images without permission.
Is this really 2010? I could believe it if it were 50 years ago when we knew no better.
Hamleys you are thoroughly disgusting.
Hamleys are not the only company who do this. To name and shame one company is a little targeted – there will be hundreds of organisations operating the same gimmick – I am neither condoning or condeming but here’s just one
http://www.snowdome.co.uk/santas-winter-wonderland/
What next? Dancing bears with chains through the nose to sell teddies?
We have terrific rescue groups working in Spain and Eastern Europe to free animals used for so-called entertainment. All the while one of our ‘top stores’ is exploiting these noble creatures without a care.
If you think this is bad wait until the penguins get a load of the bright lights, warm temperatures and clamouring crowds. Whatever (s)Hamleys PR people told the London Evening Standard no amount of animal welfare observers will stop those little fellas from freaking out, never mind the disorienting journey to and from Central London.
Well done Hamleys, you’ve shown you are prepared to roll up your sleeves and get into the real filth of making money in a challenging climate no matter what the cost. Don’t worry, I shan’t darken your doorstep, nor will any of my family or friends.
I sincerely hope that Darren Hector is a vegan. If not he has absolutely no right to be upset by these images.
I’m a veterinary surgeon, I love animals. I see no cause for major concern in these images at all. Animals are transported every day in our society. There are laws to ensure that this is done under appropriate conditions.Some people believe this is wrong – fair enough. They are the vegans that I mentioned. I can assure you however, that if you have ever eaten a chicken sandwhich the animals concerned probably arrived in far worse conditions than these reindeer.
To address the other points – they are not wearing muzzles. They are wearing headcollars which allow them to be led. Horses wear these every day to be led around, cattle wear them sometimes. They aren’t cruel or painful.
They don’t care if their food comes out of a washing up bowl, and they wouldn’t be eating it if they were distresseed. Saying it is full of ‘whatever’ implies you have no idea what’s in it – neither do I but it looks like a commercial diet suitable for their needs. Captive animals often don’t have space to meet all their needs by foraging so we have to substitute. Again, no different to conditions cattle and horses live under.
As for the tarpaulin – agree it should be fixed but highly unlikely to break a leg. Reindeer in the wild would be negotiating tree roots, brambles etc all the time which could be just as hazardous.
Happily retweeted and on it goes. I see a PR disaster brewing for Hamley’s. Live animals in a Regent Street store, there only to sell toys, Hamley you have no shame. Your windows have been a delight since I was a lad, but this is not acceptable.
Jacqui – I’m a vegan and these images are deeply upsetting and unsettling, and I for one think this is an extremely silly PR stunt on the part of Hamleys – and for what? A few quid and some cheap publicity? Makes them look very backward and tacky.
I don’t want to see reindeer in a crowded toy store. I do NOT want to see penguins in a crowded toy store. I would feel the same about any animal who would be subject to this ridiculous environment and one of the reasons I became vegan was because I wanted to play no part in the pointless suffering of animals when they are transported all over the country.
I completely oppoise the above post. I am not a vegan or in fact a vegetarian but I do work with Wildlife and I don’t see any ryhme or reason for a busy london store to think it is acceptable to have any live animal as a showpiece. It is cpmletely unacceptable.
They are – as do many others – exploiting an animal for their own financial gain.
Saying it’s ok because you are a vet is just another case of thinking your qualifications give your opinions more weight than others.
It is wrong, there is no dout in my mind about that and if it is ok with Darren I will post this on both my facebook and twitter pages to gain maximum exposure.
Leave animals where they should be. It is certainly not in a busy London toy store.
I am disgusted at Hamleys, I along with many friends who work in animal welfare had emailed Hamleys asking them politely to please reconsider this stunt as this has to be stressful to the animals, aside from the transport issues…. and I take Jacqui’s point about other animals transported in dreadful conditions… yes I am veggie so I do feel I have the write to comment…. there is also the issue of keeping an animal designed for the frozen north in a heated toy shop surrounded by people/screetching kids and probably flash photography… this has to be stressful to the animals.
It never ceases to amaze me the countless ways animals are exploited. Here in the United States we are advocating for a 10 year old tiger named Tony used as a roadside attraction at a truck stop in Louisiana. Tony is one of thousands of privately owned tigers in the U.S. whose numbers exceed wild tigers. More about Tony here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gc00OiNh5w
I believe that Jacqui has made some really good points. The animals at the moment do not look in distress. Yes, I have eaten a chicken sandwich but I do know where that meat came from. I live a rural life and am aware of livestock conditions good and bad. However, it does not change the issue that these animals, or in fact any animal, should not be kept indoors in a hot busy store surrounded by people making lots of noise and taking photos. This situation will get worse as it gets closer to Christmas and this stunt further credits the act of consumerism that is now Christmas. I can’t believe that someone would keep live animals in captivity to promote sales of their own products.
That is possibly the most disgusting thing I’ve EVER seen. I’m sure people in the comments have reasoned that the animals aren’t that distressed, are kept in the warm and are well-fed, but the fact is that this is just another vile publicity stunt to further dumb down Christmas from a sacred day to a mindless consumerist free-for-all. All that they are educating children in is the cruelty of big business and that animals belong in this state – penned in, surrounded by lots of gawping tourists and sick of Jingle Bels on repeat. Hamleys should be ashamed at this sad little gimmick.
thanks for bringing it to peoples attention!! it is truely horrible! iv already complained! so very sad.
luv m xxx
I’m also a vet, and I *loathe* this kind of publicity stunt.
Reindeer are bad enough, but the plan to have penguins, a Southern Hemisphere, easily stressed bird?? Words fail me on that one!!
However, Jacqui is right, those are headcollars not muzzles. Basic mistakes like that are what allow the a/holes like Hamleys to dismiss protestors as ignorant bunny-huggers. Please let’s get our facts straight so our protests can’t be dismissed, because this kind of thing makes me very angry!!
I agree with the general sentiments against animal exploitation but on a scale where Chinese fur farming like this would be a “10″, glue based mouse traps a “9″ and factory farmed roast turkeys a “6″ this would somewhere about “0.1″ ?
Not that I want to appear as a complete bastard, but what’s the problem? They are fed, watered, clean, and only there for a few hours… What’s worse than that and them being in a normal stable? They clearly don’t look stressed!
Actually, I’m going to continue… Simon, you’re COMPLETELY right! Well said…
Darren (The Photographer), your descriptions are completely outrageous!!
1) “Muzzed to stop them biting”… Don’t be to so bloody stupid… It’s a harness. They are not WILD reindeer caught in the woods and bought into the store. Think of them as horses with antlers and you should get why they are wearing “BRIDALS” not “muzzles”!!
2) “Some old bowl of food”… Again, lets look at the situation shall we… They are TAME… They don’t eat moss and lichen like WILD ones do… They eat food EXACTLY the food that’s in the bowl and you buy it in the petfood shop… It’ll probably be not a lot different to horse food that you feed in a trough…
3) If they weren’t in the store, they would probably be outside the store harnessed together on a street surrounded by screaming kids and cameras anyway… That’s why people keep them as pets, to entertain families at Christmas!! So they will be used to all the attention… If they were actually stressed and worried about being there, that paper thin wooden fence wouldn’t stop them in any way shape or form…
Hamleys need to hear what people have to say. Can you imagine what they will do if they ever have an African animal ‘special’. It starts with Reindeer and Penguins, where does it end?
[...] leading figure in the campaign is distinguished wildlife photographer Darren Hector, who posted photographs of the reindeer event on his blog under the title ‘The saddest [...]
[...] leading figure in the campaign is distinguished wildlife photographer Darren Hector, who posted photographs of the reindeer event on his blog under the title ‘The saddest [...]
I agree this is a tawdry spectacle, but also that on the scale of animal exploitation this rates pretty low. The animals look calm, in good condition, and are eating, which is always a good sign. They are not wild animals: reindeer have been kept as domestic animals for thousands of years in Northern Europe, where they provide meat, milk, clothing and transport (it’s not just Santa’s sleigh they pull…). Them wearing a headcollar is normal, and will not stop them biting if they wish to.
What I really find sad is that as human population gets bigger and bigger more and more kids grow up far from animals and the country, so that seeing an animal like this is a big deal to them. Kids seem to crave contact with animals and the natural world. In allowing more and more habitats to be destroyed and built on, due to increasing human numbers, we are failing both wildlife and kids. For some kids their only contact with animals is stuff like this and the idea of fighting animals as in Pokemon. In this situation I’m loath to stand against kids at least getting the chance to see and smell a real live animal. But we certainly should be working towards a world in which this just doesn’t happen.
o.k i know this a few posts late but ben who do you know that owns a reindeer as pet??? these animals are supposed to be wild, they shouldn’t be kept in stables let alone a high street shop, so yes the food they are being given is the same thing you would buy at a pet store but such a product should not exist!!!!! this is why we have such a devastating problem with the environment today because people think they are above nature instead of part of it, and by thinking this they are destroying the environment around us. now i know i’m not the most environmentally friendly person in the world but i still have feelings for animals and if you did too then you would see that this is just wrong.
I’m sorry, I do understand what Jacqui said but I have worked with Vets for many years but they wouldn’t like this at all. It is a toy store end of story.