London, March 25 (ANI): An advertisement showing a dog dressed as Hitler has been cleared as not offensive by the Advertising Standards Authority.

The Kennel Club had complained against the Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) poster.

It shows a Maltese terrier with a black comb strategically placed across its upper lip and a caption reading: ‘Master Race? Wrong for People. Wrong for Dogs. Boycott Breeders. Adopt.”

‘The ASA carefully assessed three complaints that we received about Peta’s advertisement but did not consider there were grounds for a formal investigation,” the Telegraph quoted an ASA spokesman as saying.

The rep added: ‘ We acknowledged that the image and text were emotive but did not consider the ad was likely to cause serious or widespread offence or to mislead. Consumers were likely to understand that the advertisers were expressing their opinion.’

Also, Peta spokeswoman Poorva Joshipura said: ‘ It is not our ad that is offensive but the false and dangerous belief that some breeds or races are superior to others.

‘We are asking people to take a bite out of cruelty by boycotting breeders and saving the life of a dog or a cat from a rescue shelter instead.’

Meanwhile, the Kennel Club said: ‘We put a complaint in to the ASA on behalf of all of the responsible pedigree breeders - and indeed pedigree dog owners - who love and care for their dogs and who know that they lead very healthy and happy lives. We believe that to these people the advert is highly offensive and very misleading.

‘A great many pedigree dogs breeders take steps to ensure that they health test their dogs so that healthy genes are passed down through the generations and as scientific knowledge develops more and more of these tests are becoming available.

‘The Kennel Club is leading pioneering research at the Animal Health Trust’s Canine Genetics Centre that will enable us to understand more about dog health and help us to further improve the health of both pedigrees and cross breeds alike.’

The ad had originally appeared in Birmingham during the Crufts dog show. (ANI)