We’ll chalk this up as one of the “wilder stories” we’ve ever written here on The Outerhaven, and that’s saying something. So, to rewind a bit, Mario Kart World had plenty of things to offer players when it released as the launch title for the Nintendo Switch 2. One such thing was a unique roster of characters that included animals from past Mario titles, including the Cow from Moo Moo Meadows in past racing entries. Players soon fell in love with the cow racer, but one group that isn’t so happy about it…is PETA.
Yes…apparently…PETA isn’t happy that Cow is a racer, not because it’s an “animal racer,” but because Cow…has a nosering. We’re not making this up. We got an email with a press release and the letter from PETA to Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa asking them to update Cow’s model so that it wouldn’t have the nosering anymore. Here’s an excerpt from it:
“Nose rings are used by the meat and dairy industries to exploit, control, and even drag animals to their deaths. These brass rings are crudely stabbed through the sensitive septum of cows and bulls, which can cause lasting pain and discomfort.
The brass ring in Cow’s nose glosses over real world violence and cruelty to animals. That’s why we’re asking you to give this beloved bovine a small but meaningful upgrade: Remove the nose ring and let Cow race freely—without any painful reminders of the industries that treat animals like profit-making machines.”
So, on one hand, you can kind of see PETA’s argument for why this should be changed in Mario Kart World. However, if you recall, they also once tried to stop Legend of Zelda players from “torturing” Koroks in BOTW and TOTK because it was “inhumane.” Thus, you could easily say that PETA…needs to take a chill pill a bit.
