Animal experience dropped over vegan group's fears
Wild ScienceAn animal experience at a market has been cancelled over a lack of interest and concerns from a vegan group, the manager says.
Darlington Market organisers had arranged for an interactive event called the Wild Science Animal Experience to be held on 29 May.
The Darlington Vegans wrote to market manager Michael Harvey to try to get him to "reconsider holding" the event.
Mr Harvey confirmed that he cancelled the event due to low interest and not being "well read up" on the issue of wild animal experiences, which Wild Science said were "gentle and guided".
The Wild Science website shows pictures of frogs, snakes and rabbits being held by children.
Kathy Barley, one of the leaders of the Darlington Vegans, said children were increasingly "disconnected from the natural world".
She said: "For the future of life on this planet, children need to respect and be in awe of animals.
"By reducing animals to mere objects to be handled and played with removes that possibility.
"Instead it teaches children that animals are here for our entertainment and not beings in their own right with their own purpose and meaning."
'Comfortable and happy'
A spokesperson for Wild Science said "gentle and guided interactions with animals" could spark curiosity and kindness in both children and adults.
"We respect the concerns from the Darlington Vegans group but research shows that spending time with animals in a structured way can help children develop empathy, learn responsibility, and connect with nature," they said.
"Since we spend so much time with them, we can easily tell how they're feeling by watching their behaviour and body language.
"This helps us ensure they're comfortable and happy, and only involved in activities they genuinely enjoy."
Mr Harvey said the market cancelled the event because there "was not much interest".
"It made more sense to think about putting it on," he said.
"When they [the Darlington Vegans] got in touch with me I thought 'I am clearly not well read up on this', so I would avoid that sort of event in future."