Latitude festival bosses slammed for pink sheep stunt

Animal rights activists have slammed the organisers of Britain’s Latitude festival for dyeing sheep pink for a photo op.
A promotional tweet posted on the opening day of this weekend’s event, headlined by George Ezra, Lana Del Rey and Stereophonics, featured pink sheep running across the festival grounds.
Social media users quickly criticised the organisers for dyeing the sheep and demanded an explanation, while activists at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals were quick to condemn the stunt.
“In 2019, only ignorant or cruel people still use animals as living toys, props and photo ops,” a PETA statement on Twitter read. “We’ve learned enough about animals to know to respect and admire them for their ability to live in a world we’re fast destroying.”
Latitude chiefs defended their actions, telling The Guardian the sheep were “dip-dyed using natural, water-based dye which they are used to as part of their normal farm life for insecticides and parasites, like itch-mite, blow-flies, ticks and lice”.
Representatives of British charity the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) also tweeted criticism, writing that it was “very sad to see” sheep being treated in this way.
A petition has been set up calling on Latitude to stop using the sheep as “party props”.
Meanwhile, the festival was hit by storms on Saturday afternoon (20Jul19), forcing some acts to halt sets due to the threat of lightning.