Seen a goat or sheep on the tube recently? Then it was probably in an advert asking you to buy one from the Christmas catalogue of a charity like World Vision and Christian Aid, currently offering goats, sheep, chickens and more in support of the neediest countries. But critics have claimed that buying animals is doing more harm than good.
The World Land Trust and Animal Aid said it was simply "madness" to send farm animals to areas where they will add to the problems of drought and desertification, as they will spread disease, damage the environment and wipe out vital water supplies.
John Burton, director of the trust, said: "I was prepared to put this down to ignorance of the issues last year, but now it seems utterly cynical. They seem to be doing this just to make money at Christmas. It's a gimmick."
He added: "The goat campaign may be a pleasing gift and a short term fix for milk and meat for a few individuals but in the long-term the quality of life for these people will slowly be reduced with devastating effect."
Animal Aid claims that six chickens, costing £11 and bought as a Christmas present for a friend, will heighten the disease risk and severely damage the local habitat.
Two goats, purchased for £125, can reduce the amount of farmland available to local people and result in villages becoming deserted while a cow, priced at £750, will drink up to 90 litres of water every single day.
"At Christmas time, people are desperate to make a gesture that will benefit the world's most vulnerable communities, if only to make us feel better about the relative great wealth the majority of us in the developed world enjoy," said Andrew Tyler, director of Animal Aid.
"But while donating animals might make the donor feel good, such gifts simply add to the burden of the impoverished recipients. There are many worthwhile initiatives to help people in developing countries that do not involve the exploitation of animals.
