Veg Group to Ikea: Keep Rudolph Off Menu

A British vegetarian group is calling on Ikea to stop selling reindeer salami in its in-store cafes, citing cruel hunting practices, the Independent reports. In Sweden, reindeer are herded by snowmobile and helicopter then shipped hundreds of miles to slaughterhouses, which the group says causes “considerable physical and mental stress.”

The Swedish home furnishings giant responded to the call, saying modern technology was necessary to corral reindeer in the herding area, which takes up half of Sweden. The company said that it shouldn’t be singled out, as “our supplier follows the same law applying to all other domestic animals in Sweden.” More than half the reindeer slaughtered in Sweden are calves who have never lived to see snow, a sore point with the anti-salami activists. (More reindeer stories.)