Justin Bieber has been condemned by animal rights group PETA for attending a Toronto party where a live tiger was present.
The singer's father Jeremy Jack Bieber brought in a live tiger from the Bowmanville Zoo for an engagement celebration in Toronto – and Justin documented petting the animal on Instagram.
In response, PETA has condemned the singer and his father for working with the Bowmanville Zoo's owner Michael Hackenberger – whose animal treatment is criticised by animal rights groups (via Entertainment Weekly).
PETA wrote in a press statement: "Exotic animals used for entertainment are usually torn away from their mothers at a young age, beaten into submission by trainers, and forced to live in cramped enclosures.
"Tigers used in this way are denied everything that they need to be happy, and we can only imagine that the tiger Justin posed with has experienced a life of misery."
Bieber famously once owned a monkey as a pet, but parted with it under controversial circumstances.
The animal was seized by German customs agents in 2013 when the singer tried to take it into the country on his private jet without the correct paperwork – and was ultimately adopted by another person.