Justin Bieber should just stay away from animals. In 2013, the singer got in trouble for bringing his pet monkey Mally to Germany without proper paperwork - and then abandoned her there! Now, he’s making headlines for posing with a Bengal tiger.
On Saturday, the pop superstar celebrated his 41-year-old father Jeremy’s engagement to longtime love Chelsey Rebelo, 28, at a private engagement party/art event in Toronto. Costumed superheroes walked around, Canadian opera singer Meghan Lindsay performed, people sat in the Batmobile - and a tiger on a leash was available for petting.
The 22-year-old posed for numerous pictures in which he’s touching the beautiful creature (including the one below that he posted on Instagram) and was soon slammed for his actions by People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
On its website, PETA said the tiger and other animals used at the party came from the Bowmanville Zoo, a facility that was recently charged with five counts of animal cruelty after a video emerged showing owner Michael Hackenberger whipping a young Siberian tiger. Additionally, the organization said that animals are often fed sedatives “so that they’re docile during events and parties” like the one the Biebs attended.
“Tigers used in this way are denied everything that they need to be happy, and we can only imagine that the tiger Justin posed with has experienced a life of misery,” PETA stated. “Justin and other guests are lucky that they weren’t attacked by the wild animals. In similar situations, animals have been known to lash out because of the stress of their miserable lives.
“We’re calling on Justin and his family never to use animals as selfie props or party entertainment again,” PETA concluded.
Animals from the Bowmanville Zoo have been used in the past in major motion pictures. The tiger Bieber was seen with is thought to be Robbie, who appeared in “The Interview.” “Each tiger’s stripes are unique, and Robbie even has several additional unique characteristics that match up with the Bieber tiger: pigmentation on the nose, a tear-drop shape above one of his eyes and identical bald patches on the nose,” PETA said. “We know he [Bieber] is drawn to animals, but this is the very worst way to recognize this interest because exotic animals are usually torn away from their mothers prematurely, beaten into submission by trainers, are often doped up to be docile and are deprived of everything that's natural and important to them.”
Bieber has yet to respond to PETA.
