"What Do You Mean" singer Justin Bieber was criticized by animal rights organization PETA on Monday following his Instagram photo that featured him petting a tiger brought in from the Bowmanville Zoo for a party. The owner of the said animal was recently charged with animal abuse.
According to PETA.org, the said party was hosted by the Canadian singer's father on Saturday, April 30th in Toronto. The animal rights activists said the tiger and the other animals were from Bowmanville Zoo and were brought at the party in order to give amusement to their party guest.
However, the star singer and his father were not aware of the charges that the owner of the zoo, Michael Hackenberger, faced. Hackenberger was recently charged with five counts of cruelty to animals after PETA exposed him on an undercover video, the website stated.
The "Love Yourself" hit singer took a photo with the tiger petting it and uploaded on his Instgram. PETA criticized the singer by saying, "exotic animals used for entertainment are usually torn away from their mothers at a young age, beaten into submission by trainers, and forced to live in cramped enclosures," Heavy News quoted.
The animal is seen lying on the grass with a leash. However, it appears that PETA was not the only one angered by Bieber's photo with the abused tiger. On his post, some of his followers on his Instagram account reacted and expressed their frustration to the singer. One commented, "Disappointing! Shame as a celebrity you don't know better!"
PETA also called out the singer and his family to "never use animals as selfie props," Billboard cited.
On the undercover video obtained by the animal rights group, the owner of the zoo was seen "viciously whipping" a young tiger and bragging on what he was doing.
Hackenberger has provided tigers on Hollywood films which include the "Life of Pi" and "The Interview". The organization encouraged others to not host or support parties where animals are used as entertainment.
