The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has criticized Kim Kardashian for buying her four children puppies for Christmas.
On Christmas Day, the 45-year-old reality star shared a photo on her Instagram Story of the four small Pomeranian puppies she’s welcoming to her family. Each of the dogs belongs to one of her and her ex Kanye West’s children: North, 12, Saint, 10, Chicago, seven, and Psalm, six.
In a statement to The Independent, PETA decried The Kardashians star’s decision to buy multiple puppies rather than adopting.
“Puppies are not plushies, and it’s a damn shame that Kim missed the chance to be a spokesperson for shelter pups and instead is being rightly slammed on social media for that,” PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk said.
“Ignoring the homeless animals crisis is inexcusably callous,” Newkirk continued, urging the All’s Fair star to “call PETA or a local shelter the next time [she] wants to bring an animal into [her] home.”
Newkirk also directed her message towards Kim’s sister, Khloe Kardashian, who recently bought a dog for her family for Christmas.
“[They] can try to make some amends now by sending their kids to volunteer at a local shelter or paying for a local shelter adopt-a-thon or at least one spay day to help stop the growing homeless puppy crisis,” the PETA founder added.
The Independent has contacted Kim’s representative for comment.
On her Instagram Story, Kim posted a picture of two dark-furred pomeranians, next to one with a cream coat, and another with sable fur. “Each kid got a puppy,” she wrote in the caption.
Khloe also shared photos on Christmas Day on Instagram of her black Labrador retriever puppy, wearing a festive red bow and a tag that read “Peppermint.”
“I am going to cry, she’s the best in the world,” she wrote, while tagging Big Creek Labradors, a Labrador retriever breeder in Indiana.
In another picture, the dog was seen sleeping next to Khloe’s children’s stuffed animals. “I am not ok right now. This may be my gift because I could cry @bigcreeklabradors she is the sweetest soul ever!!!!!” the Good American founder wrote.
Khloe gifted the puppy to her and her ex Tristan Thompson’s two children, True, seven, and Tatum, three.
Aside from her four new puppies, Kim shared photos of her family on Instagram at the annual Kardashian-Jenner Christmas Eve party. For the occasion, the actors’ four children all wore matching black outfits, while Kardashian wore a silver strapless gown with black fur lining and matching diamond earrings.
