Featured Image Credit: Instagram/Kim Kardashian.
Topics: News, Celebrity, Kim Kardashian, Animal Cruelty, Animals
Charisa Bossinakis
Topics: News, Celebrity, Kim Kardashian, Animal Cruelty, Animals
Kim Kardashian has been accused of promoting 'animal cruelty' after visiting a hedgehog cafe in Tokyo, Japan.
The reality TV star and businesswoman has faced significant backlash after taking her children, North, Saint, Psalm and Chicago, to the animal cafe on her latest trip.
Kardashian posted pictures the family getting up close and personal with the adorable erinaceids; however, many were left horrified.
One person wrote: “They stress easily. Who thought this was a good idea?”
Another said: “Wow, that is so abusive to those hedgehogs that are nocturnal, solitary prey animals, but ok.”
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A third commented: “Hedgehogs aren’t toys!”
While another shared: “This is animal cruelty.”
UNILAD has approached Kardashian for comment.
According to PETA, although African pygmy hedgehogs have been domesticated recently, they don’t make for ideal pets as they are docile and nocturnal.
Therefore, they don’t want to interact with humans and often flare up their spikes when feeling stressed or threatened.
Do you hear that, people? It’s not just a party trick.
“The most common type of hedgehogs purchased as ‘pets’ are hybrids commonly known as African pygmy hedgehogs. But these animals are only a few generations from their natural-living cousins. To call them “domesticated” is truly stretching the truth,” PETA's website reads.
They noted that these animals need a lot of ‘time and effort’ before they can tolerate being held.
“Although their small size may make them look cute and cuddly, ‘pocket pets’ are wild animals who have very specific needs that the average person can’t meet,” PETA added.
So it seems a cafe, where anyone can reach in and grab them, sounds like their very worst nightmare.
Additionally, Deborah Weaver, president of the Hedgehog Welfare Society, told Vice: "If these cafés were to pop up in the US, my group would be all over them. It's not in the best interest or health of the animal."
She pointed out that the biggest issue with these establishments is how they’re open during the day when hedgehogs should be sleeping instead of being ‘forced’ to socialize.
She added that living in empty tanks such as the ones these cafes provide isn’t beneficial for them as ‘African hedgehogs, they still think of themselves as prey’ and need to be ‘under something for safety’.