Paris Hilton has come under fire by animal rights organisation Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) after she purchased a new chihuahua puppy.
The socialite’s latest addition to her family was branded “problematic” by the organisation, which has said it will be putting up “head-turning” advertisements in Los Angeles in response to her “speciesist splurge”.
On Thursday (6 July), Hilton announced that she had welcomed a new puppy, who is related to one of her late dogs, Harajuku B****. The elderly chihuahua died in May at the age of 23, leaving Hilton “heartbroken”.
In an Instagram post, the 42-year-old DJ shared a clip of the puppy being delivered to her mansion. The video also showed her introducing the pooch as Harajuku B*****’s “cousin”.
She wrote in the caption: “Absolutely in love with my new puppy! He is so adorable and sweet! So special that he’s actually related to my angel Harajuku B**** who passed earlier this year. It’s like having a little piece of her still here with me. What should I name my new baby?”
But Peta accused the “Stars Are Blind” singer of “living under a rock” and told her to keep her “retail therapy” to “baubles and bags”.
In an article posted online on Friday (7 July), the organisation said: “Paris Hilton recently bought a chihuahua puppy from a breeder before publicizing her problematic purchase on social media.
“The star has apparently been living under a rock if she thinks that buying animals is a compassionate thing to do – a visit to an animal shelter would have shown her just how many chihuahuas need homes – and five minutes on Petfinder would turn up thousands more, including puppies.
It continued: “Peta knows that retail therapy is what Paris Hilton loves best, but we’re asking her to keep the shopping to baubles and bags.
“Next week, we’ll be running head-turning ads in Los Angeles, blasting Hilton’s speciesist splurge.”
Peta said buying animals from pet stores or breeders could result in the death of an animal in a shelter and urged people to “pledge not to buy animals”.
“Homelessness is not just a human problem. If you want to bring an animal into your life, always adopt from a shelter,” the organisation wrote.
Representatives for Hilton have been contacted for comment.
Recently, Peta also called out former Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson for buying a dog from a pet store after the sudden passing of his family’s two-year-old dog Henry.
The group criticised the comedian for buying his family’s new puppy instead of adopting one from a shelter. In a statement to TMZ in June, Daphna Nachnimovitch, Peta’s senior vice president of cruelty investigations, said: “It’s tragic that Pete didn’t seek out a borough-born mutt from a city animal shelter, because a scrappy New Yorker with charm, personality, and unconventional handsomeness could have been his perfect match.
“Since shelters in New York and across the country are overflowing with homeless animals, Peta urges Pete to show some big heart energy by adopting, not shopping, in the future.”
In response, Davidson left an expletive-filled voicemail to Nachnimovitch and told the organisation to “suck my d***”.
The voicemail, released by TMZ, heard Davidson explaining that he purchased the dog after Henry’s death made his family “so sad”. He also explained that he is allergic to dogs and claimed cavapoos are the only breed he doesn’t react to.
“So why don’t you do your research before you f***ing create news stories for people because you’re a boring tired [bleeped, unclear]. F*** you and suck my d***!”
Davidson later said he was “not sorry” for standing up for his family, but admitted to using a “poor choice of words” in his leaked voicemail.
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