The story of Santa’s Pets

Santa’s Pets is located in Santa Claus Village, at the Arctic Circle in Rovaniemi, Finland. You can visit our animals, and we also organize forest walks with reindeer and alpacas. Let us tell you a bit about ourselves!

Santa’s Pets is a family run business, started in 2018. The owners of the farmyard are Marjo and Pasi.

We’ve always liked to visit petting zoos with our own kids, and that’s where we got the idea to start one ourselves. Our family has 3 children, who are very involved in the work. Their grandparents have been a great help in so many things; if we listed all their help here, it would be a novel.

This work has been absolutely amazing – the days are really varied, fulfilling, and sometimes difficult. Here one can be the CEO as well as an elf, zookeeper, salesperson, marketer, office worker, cleaner, supervisor, designer, builder, gardener and whatever else is needed. We are physically on site every day to do all of this, and more. In the morning, the animals are cared for, the spaces are cleaned, the snow is cleared, etc. Customers are served during the day. We walk for hours a day, whatever the weather. We are open every day of the year. Customers are typically happy and satisfied. The animals are therapists, for both our guests and ourselves. Here you can feel what it’s like to be a farmer. Sometimes it is busy and hectic and sometimes it is calmer, so you can enjoy the company of the animals and do all kinds of cleaning work. Between all of this, there is always some computer work to do.

Meet our wonderful and dedicated team:

Saana has training in Natural and Environmental Protection.

Miika is our nature guide. He has a degree in Natural and Environmental Protection.

Santeri is a yard worker and animal caretaker.

Riikka is an expert on ponies.

Milla has a degree in tourism. She works as a guide and takes care of animals.

Riia

Riia is an animal caretaker and a student animal trainer and studies animal training.

Joona is a logistics student, machine and yard worker, and animal caretaker.

Anni is a student, animal caretaker, and cashier.

Johanna is a tourism student.

Anni R. is a tourism student.

Aida is a student of animal care.

They all do great customer service as well. All of the staff have earned glowing feedback from our visitors about their dedication to customer service.

Let’s not forget all the other seasonal workers and trainees, both from Finland and abroad, as well as our partners and collaborators. A special mention goes to Natalie from the Rovaniemi Regional Animal Association, who does valuable work for animals in many ways.

And a big thank you to our lovely customers!

We will continue to develop Santa’s Pets with enthusiasm and positivity. We are continuously developing and thinking about how we can improve even more with our existing resources. We plan to continue in the same way, always adding something new, wonderful and inspiring.

Welcome!

Marjo & Pasi

Marjo ja Pasi

 

Scroll down to view photos of some wonderful memories from over the years: