Livestock window display? WTF Mountain Warehouse?

[ohdoublebother]

As I walked DD to preschool this morning we came across this window display at the Mountain Warehouse shop in Fulham. Yes they really thought it was a nice idea to drag a bunch of lambs into the middle of London, stick them into a shop window and set a group of children and a photographer on them for some 'cuddles'. The poor little lambs looked petrified.
Couldn't they have dragged the children to the farm instead, if they really must use lambs to promote their spring range of lightweight jackets or whatever?
I'm not exactly an animal rights activist but this made me really cross.
AIBU to think the whole stunt was a bit unnecessary and cruel to the lambs?

When I was a child it was common practice for someone to bring lambs into school for petting, can't see how this is much different tbh. Does seem a bit odd to bring them to a shop but I'm sure I wouldn't have done them much harm, probably less stressful than a trip to the slaughter house.

To help people understand where their food comes from? And to show they are in good health at that farm?
To educate children on what an actual animal looks like after spending months teaching them what noise they make?
To give people an 'ahhhh' moment from seeing a cute fluffy lamb?

But seriously, are you saying you've never seen a TV programme or film where they depict a country fair/kids party with a petting zoo/school fete with pony rides/village show with sheep racing? Ever?

I am not saying 'no harm, no foul, but I cannot believe the owner of the lambs would have signed up to animal mistreatment. Nor, I imagine, would Mountain Warehouse.

Mountain Warehouse tweeted about this and there does not seem to have been a backlash so I am assuming there have been no animal welfare concerns. More pictures here and while I am sure the images were carefully chosen there do not seem to be immediate issues.

ohdoublebother have you enquired at the store what the arrangements were? As has been pointed out, at least there were no stick wileding children, growling dogs or angry farmers...

So it's ok to have them on a farm where they're being raised for consumption but it's not ok to enjoy them, pet them or move them, until they're going to be sold or killed. I know many farms where the lambs run around the kitchen playing with children and dogs. Our goats follow our children around the farmyard. They enjoy human interactions.

Yay Pipbin totally agree!

Can't muster up any outrage about this. Seems fine.

Yes that is what I'm thinking, can we do whatever we like with them just because we kill them in the end anyway? Doesn't sit right somehow.

That's not what I am saying at all. What is annoying me is the utter hypocritical attitude from many people who will get upset by something like this but will happily eat the charred corpse of a baby animal.

I'm not a militant vegetarian, I would never stop someone eating meat. However, don't bleat on about how this is cruel to the ikkle lambkins when you would eat them.

I don't eat lamb because it's rank. Am I allowed to be shocked at this?

I would've thought that them being in a centrally heated shop behind glass is somewhat different to a petting zoo. The overheating thing, being behind a massive sheet of glass, concerns me.

MERL
My aunt is a sheep farmer. She has lambs living in her centrally-heated kitchen, next to the aga. She even leaves the bottom ovens open to make it warmer for them. They're fine. I wouldn't worry...

The kids had fleeces on,so perhaps the heating was off. Plus they have sheep in kitchens like sparechange said. Glass is the same as a wall, a fence or a hedge, to a sheep they are all just obstacles.