Animal rights organization PETA is calling on Nintendo to remove the nose ring design of cow characters in Mario Kart: World.
PETA pointed out in the statement that if the cows in reality are forced to wear nose rings - "this cruel tool that causes lasting pain and discomfort", they will never reveal the "silly smile" of the cow characters in the game.The organization sent a letter to Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa this week, emphasizing that "the nose ring was forcibly pierced through the most sensitive parts of the cow's body" and is often used to "drag the cow to death" to control it.
"We understand that Mario Kart: World is just a game - because of this, cow nose rings should be deleted." The statement stressed, "Mario Kart should be a place of joy, not a tool of pain that the meat and milk industry imposes on cows. No one wants to think about animal suffering while racing the track."
The statement also revealed the cruel operation of the dairy industry: "Installing young cattle with pungent rings, so that the soothing behavior of sucking breast milk causes pain in cows, causing the young cattle to be rejected and kicked away. To control bulls, the chain is often tied from the nose ring to the horns to implement more cruel pain control."
“It’s by no means fashionable decoration,” the organization added, “but rather the cruel tool used by the meat and milk industry to control and harm cattle, causing lasting pain and discomfort.”
PETA has previously taken action against a number of games: accusation of "Collection"!Animal Crossing Association encourages "abuse fish and insects to pull wild animals out of their habitat and imprison them in a narrow museum display cabinet"; it also launched a boycott campaign against "Palu" and "Hunting Simulator 2".
The global sales of Nintendo Switch 2 consoles reached 5.82 million units in the first month, and 5.63 million copies of "Mario Kart: World" sold during the same period, which means that the installation probability of this first-time game is as high as about 97%.
