Animal Activists Aflutter Over Real-Piglet Piggy Bank

Larry Knowles

AOL News
(Nov. 12) -- Hey, kids, how'd you like to have a piggy bank made from an actual pig?

Well, now you can, courtesy of Vancouver, British Columbia, novelty retailer TheCheeky.com, which is offering authentic taxidermied piglet piggy banks for sale on its site.

And if you start saving now you might be able to afford one by the time you head off to college: the banks run a cool $4,000 each, with buyers required to put half the money up front.

Animal activists are squealing mad over the piglet bank, a custom piggy bank made from a real stuffed piglet. The product, which costs $4,000, is being offered by TheCheeky.com, a Canadian novelty retailer.

It should be noted, though, that the steep price is because of high production costs. According to TheCheeky co-owner Colin Hart, it takes 12 months to fill an order. First, the company has to find a piglet that has died of natural causes. Then it must have the animal taxidermied, which takes about six months.

To date, the retailer hasn't actually sold a piglet bank, but Hart told AOL News that TheCheeky has received a huge amount of interest in the past week.

A large part of that interest stems from the outcry the bank created after it appeared in Vancouver magazine's 2010 Holiday gift guide published in early November. Animal activists quickly noticed and organized a call to action.

Two days ago, the Winnipeg Humane Society posted a message on its site titled "Speak Out Against Taxidermied Piggy Bank." The society called the piglet bank "a particularly callous and demeaning exploitation of a baby animal's dead body" and instructed activists to e-mail complaints to Vancouver magazine.

Representatives for the humane society could not be reached for comment.

TheCheeky received even greater publicity when CNN reported on the controversy in its breaking-news blog. The glut of attention, Hart says, has brought 50,000 hits per day to TheCheeky.

"It's an oxymoron," Hart stated. "It's a big deal with all these activists, and then we get all the publicity for our site."

Hart is quick to point out that no pigs have been, or will be, killed to make the piglet bank.

"For some reason, people think we're breeding pigs with slots in their backs," he said. "Either these people are kids, or they're really, really special adults."

The 34-year-old Dubliner, who grew up on a farm in Ireland, also supports efforts to eliminate animal cruelty. He just thinks that the activists targeting him have it wrong.

"It's important for people to back up animals, who can't speak," he agreed, "but we're not killing any animals."

He believes the real argument isn't about cruelty to animals, but about taxidermy and whether preserving animals for aesthetic appeal is ethical.

Before the piglet bank brouhaha, Hart and business partner Ryan McCormick had been excitedly plugging their latest creation, Glory Hole stickers. The stickers can be slapped on the walls of bathroom stalls to give the impression that the occupant is being watched.