VevoThe folks at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are in an uproar over Katy Perry's "Roar."
The animal rights organization is taking the hitmaker to task for featuring exotic animals in the music video for her new megahit.
"Animals used for entertainment in film and television endure horrific cruelty and suffer from extreme confinement and violent training methods," PETA wrote in a letter the clip's co-directors.
The video premise finds the 28-year-old singer stranded in a Tarzan-like setting after surviving a plane crash where she ends up having close encounters with several of the jungle's inhabitants, including a monkey, an elephant, a parrot and a tiger.
PETA called the production "traumatic" for the animals since they become "stressed" and anxious" in such situations. The group also alleged the filmmakers may have been supplied the fauna from Serengeti Ranch, an exhibitor which it has long criticized for risking the health of its animals and which has received a total of 13 citations out of 22 inspections from the U.S. Department of Agriculture since 2001.
PETA ended its letter by suggesting that if Perry and company need to use wildlife in the future, they follow in the paw prints of 2011's hit film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes "which featured wonderfully realistic computer-generated chimpanzees."
A rep for Perry was unavailable for comment.
Despite the outcry, "Roar" continues the popster's winning streak on the charts, becoming her eighth No. 1 hit, and notching 557,000 digital copies sold in its first week, breaking the record set by "Firework, on its way to selling over 1.7 million digital copies.
Her fourth studio album, Prism, hits stores Oct. 18.
UPDATE: Dr. Kwane Stewart, chief veterinary officer and national director of of the No Animals Were Harmed® program, issued the following statement: "American Humane Society was on set for the filming of ['Roar'], which used an elephant, a monkey, birds and a tiger. After reviewing the reports, we believe that the Guidelines for the Safe Use of Animals in Filmed Media were followed and that no animal was harmed in the making of this music video."