Thaindian News

London, Nov 16 (ANI): A British shop, which sells toys for kids, has been put down for removing a pig from a toy farm set just because it might upset Muslim and Jewish parents.

One angry mum, named only as Caroline, complained to the Early Learning Centre when she found the pig missing from among the cow, sheep, chicken, horse and dog in the store’s HappyLand Goosefeather Farm.

There was only an empty sty in the farm set she bought for her daughter’s first birthday - and a button that made an oinking noise when pressed.

But after she wrote to the ELC’s customer services she was told it had been removed in case it upset Muslim or Jewish parents, who do not eat pork and consider the animal unclean.

“This is political correctness gone loopy. Surely if someone has an issue with a toy, they don’t buy it,” the Sun quoted an angry Caroline as saying.

The move astonished parents, including Muslim mums, who have agreed with Caroline.

“I’m Muslim and it doesn’t bother me. It’s just another animal. What is the store going to do next? Ban the Peppa Pig cartoon? Stop selling books with pigs in? This is a multi-cultural country,” a mum named Safiyyah said on parenting website Netmums.

Fellow Muslim mum Natasha added: “If you don’t want your kid playing with a pig toy, simply throw it in the bin. Other kids should not have to suffer.”

Alec Suttenwood, chairman of the Anti-Political Correctness group, said the ban was “ridiculous”.

“Pigs are kept on farms - it is a fact of life,” he stated. ELC said that the decision to remove the pig was taken in reaction to customer feedback in some parts of the world, but will now bring it back.

“We recognise that pigs are familiar farm animals - especially for our UK customers,” a spokeswoman said.

“We have taken the decision to reinstate the pig and to no longer sell the set in international markets where it might create an issue,” she added. (ANI)