Getting yourself a tattoo of your choice can be quite fun and exciting, but the same can amount to animal abuse when it comes to your pet! Recently, an Ukrainian influencer triggered outrage on social media after she posted pictures of her tattooed cat on Instagram. Notably, Elena Iwanickaya had got her hairless cat, Yasha, tattooed with the image of the Egyptian god Anubis back in 2017. The same had angered animal lovers who had even tried to get PETA involved.
The noise eventually died down until she posted pictures of her tattooed cat once again on Instagram with the caption, ”Haters missed Yasha.” See the picture here:
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Soon after she posted the picture, many slammed her saying that her act amounts to animal cruelty.”You just can’t torture those who are weaker then you, it is not a toy, it is a living being,” commented one user on Instagram while another wrote, ”Tattoos are for humans who have a choice of whether to do it or not. Not a cruel instrument to beautify an animal! You are sick”.
“The cat’s owner thought it fun to give her pet cat a tattoo. Unfortunately, the cat spent the worst hours of his life. It is impossible even to look at these photos!”, added UAnimals, the largest animal rights group in Ukraine.
In 2017, Iwanickaya had responded to all the criticism saying that she had consulted a vet before getting the tattoo and had a vet present while the tattoo was done. Here’s what she said:
This cat’s life is better then yours. Maybe it is hell for you, but he feels just fine. He has not been castrated and he never will be, this would be real cruelty. […]I checked with the vet before getting him a tattoo and they were fine with it and a vet was present while they were doing the tattoo, so everything was under control. […]The tattoo was made on the upper layer of skin. Only one to two millimetres, he did not feel any pain. Right after the procedure he behaved normally and started to go on with his normal routine.
Cat getting tattooed/Credit: Instagram
Ivanickaya also set up an Instagram account for him, which has more than 5000 followers. She also claims her cat lives a more luxurious life than most.