A Chinese theme park has publicly apologized following their horrifying publicity stunt involving a bungee jumping pig.
Animal rights activists, as well as social-media users, are blasting Meixin Red Wine Town amusement park in southwestern municipality of Chongqing for the “disgusting” exploit, which was organized in celebration of their new bungee jumping attraction, as well as the upcoming Lunar New Year.
“We sincerely accept [the internet’s] criticism and advice and apologize to the public,” a spokesperson from the park said in a statement. “We will improve [our] marketing of the tourist site, to provide tourists with better services.”
The park denied accusations of animal cruelty, claiming it was an “experiment,” according to Beijing News.
The pig has reportedly been taken to the slaughterhouse since the plunge.
Via the park’s Weibo account, a Chinese social-media site, they wrote to followers, “We sincerely accept the criticism and advice given by many web users and hereby extend our sincere apology to web users and all communities of the society.”
Video footage taken on Saturday shows two men hoisting the approximately 165-pound pig up the 223-foot bungee drop.
“Humans are literally the worst creatures on planet earth,” a disgusted Twitter user posted.
“The pig’s screams are heart-rending,” wrote one critic in Chinese on social media.
“This is a super vulgar marketing tactic,” accused another.
PETA naturally got involved.
“A bungee jump is a scary experience even for consenting humans — just imagine the outright terror of being forcibly strung up by your legs and thrown from a high platform,” Jason Baker, PETA senior vice president of international campaigns, told Daily Mail.
In a separate statement to BBC News, Baker added that “pigs experience pain and fear in the same ways that we do, and this disgusting PR stunt should be illegal. The Chinese public’s angry response should be a wake-up call to China’s policy-makers to implement animal protection laws immediately.”
Chinese courts do not recognize animal cruelty as a crime. Nevertheless, there is growing concern of animal welfare among Chinese citizens.
“The theme park deserves every shred of the backlash it’s receiving online, and the Chinese public’s angry response should be a wake-up call to China’s policymakers that they must implement animal protection laws immediately,” Baker said.
Wendy Higgins, a spokesperson for Humane Society International, added to the outcry.
“Causing animals fear or suffering for a commercially motivated publicity stunt is truly vulgar,” she told the Daily Mail. “Unfortunately this kind of exploitation is not uncommon in China, symptomatic of a system that provides no legal protection for animals and no legal incentive to respect them as sentient beings and consider their welfare or feelings.”
She agrees the act should push the Chinese government to reckon with public opinion on animal cruelty.
“The outrage online to this incident is indicative of how out of step this cruelty is with the growing concern for animal protection among Chinese citizens, and it really is time that policymakers in China caught up with that sentiment.”