Nursery rhymes re-written as woke animal rights group claim lyrics are 'racist, sexist and cruel'

12 May 2022, 16:07

Classic nursery rhymes have been rewritten by an animal rights group who have criticised the lyrics for encouraging "speciesism and cruelty to animals".

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have changed the lyrics on popular children's rhymes including Baa Baa Black Sheep and Little Miss Muffet, claiming they needed "makeovers to replace racist, sexist, and otherwise insensitive language".

The classic lyrics in Baa Baa black sheep have been changed so that the sheep says it is "not cool" to steal sheep's wool.

Whilst the catchy words in Three Blind Mice has been changed from "they all ran after the farmer's wife who cut off their tails with a carving knife" to still running after the farmer's wife but then it reads "they told her thank you for saving their life".

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The animal group turned Little Miss Muffet vegan by scrapping her "curds and whey" with "watching the bluebirds play" and instead of being "frightened" by a spider in the song, the eight-legged creature "brightened" her day.

On the PETA's website they state: "Attitudes toward animals have changed a lot in the hundreds of years since many nursery rhymes were written.

"And in the same way we’ve given old songs and fairy tales much-needed makeovers to replace racist, sexist, and otherwise insensitive language, we should make sure nursery rhymes are relevant for kids today and don’t encourage speciesism, cruelty to animals, or fear of them.

"Animals are intelligent individuals capable of joy and suffering. They’re not ours to exploit, and our language must evolve to reflect this."

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Adding: "As a parent, you influence how your child grows up and their outlook on life.

"When singing one of these super-popular nursery rhymes to your little one, exchange the outdated lyrics for the compassionate new ones to teach that it’s not OK to be cruel to animals.

"Let’s ensure that we’re instilling empathy in our kids at every opportunity and building the most compassionate generation yet."

PETA has previously faced controversy for dramatic campaigns which included putting a naked pregnant woman in a cage on Mother’s Day to draw attention to the treatment of pigs.

In one dramatic campaign, they tricked Londoners into thinking they had just drunk "dog's milk" after getting them to taste test a range of milk, which turned out to actually be soya milk.

PETA said they performed the stunt to try and dissuade people from drinking cows milk.