PETA’s Super Tanooki Skin game a (gross) joke

I’m behind on animal news, what with scarfing down turkey and all this week. Well, the dogs ate our turkey, but you know what I mean.

A couple of weeks ago I reported on PETA’s response to Super Mario and his Tanooki suit, with PETA claiming that the video game promoted the clubbing of raccoon dogs and wearing of their fur.

Turns out, the game was a joke meant to lampoon the Nintendo character. Problem is, just about everyone took it seriously. I did. But Shakira Croce, PETA’s media coordinator told Kotaku.com:

“Mario fans: Relax! PETA’s game was meant to be tongue-in-cheek, a fun way to call attention to a serious issue, that raccoon dogs are skinned alive for their fur … We wish real-life tanukis could fly or swat enemies away with their tails and escape from those who profit from their skins. You can help them by never buying real fur.”

Like I said I don’t play video games so maybe bloody skinned animals chasing around characters is standard video game fare. Blech. But  making a joke out something as serious as clubbing dogs seems in poor taste.