Oxford's oldest student newspaper

Independent since 1920

Welfare fears over Union ball penguins

Animal welfare charities have expressed disgust at the taunting of live penguins at the Oxford Union’s Fire and Ice Ball last Saturday.

Inebriated revellers at the Union’s Ball were seen by a number of guests to be hassling the birds, which had been brought in to provide entertainment and a photo opportunity.

However, Sharon Howe, representative of VERO, Voice for Ethical Research at Oxford, has criticised the actions of the drunk students, saying, “That sounds like a joke…I am very shocked. We are sickened by it as individuals, and as a group we would just like to say that the incident should be referred to the RSPCA.”

The RSPCA responded saying, “It certainly doesn’t sound ideal. Why do you need penguins at a ball? It seems completely unnecessary.”

The ball, which took place last Saturday, had a number of other attractions including live music, fire eaters and shisha.

A second-year from St Anne’s said “They kept live penguins in small cages. A lot of students were quite near the animals and they looked pretty terrified. Occasionally, they were hassled by drunk people.”

The Oxford Union has denied any maltreatment of the animals, saying, “At no time were the penguins allowed to be hassled and this was made clear to all those who wished to have their photograph taken with the penguins. The secretary regularly checked on the handlers and the penguins to see if they needed a break at any point and was informed each time by the handlers that the penguins were fine.

“The penguins were only present during the initial stages of the ball, leaving after a few hours. They were not kept in a cage but rather in their own pen which complied with ACTA guidelines and included a water pool for them to swim in as required.”

 

Check out our other content

Most Popular Articles