Sounds like they ticked somebody off...what is it about humans wanting to possess small furry creatures??
In my view, it is a deep disconnect with our fellow man. Animals are so much simpler to deal with, we don't need one another as much as we used to, life has become terribly complicated in terms of what used to be the melting pot.
Now, you need a score card just to go to the gas station to make sure you don't offend some ####tard because our differences are far more important that what we share. So, we 'humanize' our pets. We elevate them because they are easier to deal with.
Personally, I've always seen this as a sign of mental illness writ large. They're just ####ing animals. They'll eat your eyeballs out if you fall and can't get up for a long enough time.