PETA

When you start your island life in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you're immediately tasked with gathering resources by picking fruit from trees, fishing, bug catching, and more. These activities help your island to grow thanks to Tom Nook's Nook Miles scheme, but should players be a little more concerned about their actions?

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has issued a 'Vegan Guide to Animal Crossing', listing all of the things you can and can't do to keep up with a vegan lifestyle. It kicks things off by saying that you shouldn't fish, describing it as "cruel" and "bad for the environment"; you shouldn't catch bugs; you shouldn't work towards the Museum, because "bugs don’t belong in tiny cases in a museum for other villagers to gawk at"; and that you shouldn't dig up clams.

In a shocking section titled 'Is Tom Nook Exploiting you?', the guide explains that Tom is a racoon dog, an animal often killed for fur. It says you should probably "cut him some slack" because his family may have been beaten, electrocuted, gassed, or skinned alive. Sheesh.

So what can you do? Well, you can eat fruit. PETA uses the added abilities you gain when eating fruit to bolster its point on why this is a good thing, and goes on to say that you can help promote veganism with banners and the like.

PETA

It's worth noting that the guide appears to be something of a publicity stunt and not entirely serious; the promotion of animal welfare is obviously a wonderful thing, but we dare say that most Animal Crossing players wouldn't actually go and rip hermit crabs from their homes to sell them in real life.

What do you think? Do you think PETA has a point, and that we should reflect on our actions in games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, or do you think this is all a little out of proportion? Have your say in the comments.