Petition launched to stop sheep being dyed pink at Latitude Festival

22 July 2019, 15:01 | Updated: 22 July 2019, 18:36

The festival - which took place in Henham Park, Suffolk at the weekend - has come under fire for their practice of turning sheep pink each year.

Pink sheep at Latitude could soon be a thing of the past after a petition was launched to stop the festival adding coloured dye to the animals.

The famous Suffolk festival - which took place in Henham Park from 18-21 July with George Ezra, Stereophonics and Lana Del Rey as headliners - is known for its yearly tradition of filling the festival with a flock of pink sheep.

However, this year saw the likes of the RSPCA expressing their concerns about their practices.

The Change.org petition, which calls for the festival to stop dyeing the sheep, writes: "Latitude festival has dyed a flock of sheep pink and released them onto the festival grounds. These are sentient beings, not party props. Intelligent and sensitive, these animals are easily frightened and will not appreciate the loud noise and drunken revellers."

It adds: "The sheep should be removed from the grounds immediately and this tradition should not be allowed to continue."

The complaints were prompted by a video posted by the festival on social media of the sheep at the festival, which was shared alongside the caption: "The sheep have arrived!"

When questioned about their practices by a Twitter user, the festival explained the animals are "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".

However, it wasn't enough to satisfy people on the social media platform who believe the animals shouldn't be forced to roam in a loud and chaotic festival or be used as any form of novelty or entertainment.

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