Nintendo’s latest racing game, Mario Kart World, has found itself in an unlikely controversy after animal rights group PETA condemned the design of one of its newest playable characters, a racer simply called Cow.

The group’s concern is not with the inclusion of a bovine driver, which many fans have embraced with enthusiasm, but with a single design detail: a brass nose ring. In a letter addressed to Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa, PETA argued that the small metal ring represents “pain, exploitation and control” in the real world and urged the company to remove it from the game.

In its message, PETA began by praising the character’s popularity, acknowledging that Cow had “won hearts everywhere” since the game’s release earlier this year. However, it added that the design would be “

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