Piggy bank made with real piglet angers animal rights groups

LONDON - An Irish designer was creative enough to make a ‘piggy bank’ with real piglets, but only to welcome criticism from animal welfare groups.

The taxidermied swine is the brainchild of designer Colin Hart from Belfast who claimed to have received death threats as a result of the product, which comes complete with slot and cork stop.

Billed as the ‘piggy bank of all piggy banks’, it took 12 months to be made and is available at the cost of 4000 dollars.

Animal rights campaigners have called the Piglet Bank ’sick’ and ‘inhumane’, but Hart had a different perspective to tell.

“Most people understand it is a bit of a joke but I have had death threats from some people. We are not going to kill a piglet, we wait for one to die of natural causes. That’s partly why it can take over 12 months to make,” the Daily Mail quoted him as saying.

“I’ve had all sorts of crazy messages, one person even emailed me to say they thought it was disgusting that I was breeding pigs with a slot in their back. But what people don’t understand is we are not killing pigs, there’s no animal cruelty involved,” Hart added.

The Piglet Bank is the latest in a long line of Hart’s bizarre creations which include, suitcase stickers that appear to show the contents of suitcases as drugs, sex toys, money and even a kidnapped air stewardess.

On his creations, he said that, “Some people may think my creations are distasteful but it’s just a bit of fun. And I never expected the reaction I have from the Piglet Bank. Taxidermy has been around for centuries I’m just giving it a modern twist.”

“The funny thing is since the huge outcry about the Piggy Bank being cruel and inhumane, we’ve actually had a few people express an interest in ordering one. If we do sell one we will even donate the profits to an animal rights charity,” the designer concluded. (ANI)