Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc.

Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. operates the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee, which hosts the annual “Opryland Trail of Holiday Lights” drive-through event. This event has historically featured a live reindeer display as a central attraction. The company’s use of captive reindeer for public entertainment and photo opportunities constitutes commercial exploitation of animals.

A specific, documented incident of animal cruelty is directly linked to this business activity. In 2021, a reindeer named “Tinsel” died at the Opryland Trail of Holiday Lights. A veterinary pathologist who examined the case stated the injuries were “one of the most violent attacks on an animal he had seen,” concluding the reindeer was “kicked to death.” This incident occurred on the premises of the company’s commercial holiday event.

The company’s core business is hospitality and entertainment. The continued operation of an event that uses live animals as attractions, following a publicly documented fatal attack, places this activity under the animal_exploitation exclusion.