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Pennywell Owners Statement

I am very hurt and saddened at the untrue and unsubstantiated claims being made on Social Media. The facts are as follows: It is very sad that we lost three reindeer back in October this year. Two had come to Pennywell in May 2013 on loan, initially for one year and had been here ever since. One was owned by Pennywell and had been here for many years. They had only recently become unwell, suffering drastic weight loss which is why they were under the care of our vet. The animals were seen and treated regularly by our vet who was very happy that we did everything we could for them. In a statement, vet Richard Walters, of Southmoor Vets, said: he treated the animals after being called in by Pennywell Farm earlier this year. He said the reindeer were “losing condition and were unwell”. He revealed there was “some pathology” from the post mortem “but they couldn’t pinpoint to it to a specific”. However, he said: “Neglect was ruled out as a cause of death and sadly our efforts at treatment failed.” “We were called in a few times [by the farm] and the reindeer seemed to have plenty of good feed and the farm even sought advice from a reindeer nutritionist in how to take the best care they could. “The owner asked for a second opinion and St David's Vets [in Newton Abbott] were called in. They were happy with our view.” We had to take our Facebook site down yesterday as it was being targeting by people who were not interested in the facts. The comments were becoming personal, naming staff, posting crude and unpleasant comments and reviews. As a visitor attraction having unwell or uncared animals here is not in our interest. The welfare of all our animals is of the utmost importance to us We hope that those of you who visit Pennywell and know us will not take the Social Media posts at face value. We wish you all a very Happy Christmas! Chris Murray This story appeared on December 23, 2015