A farmer on an Australian outback farm has been criticised by PETA because one of his employees swore at his sheep.

The Times says that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals lodged a complaint against Ken Turner after an employee was filmed by an “undercover operative” using bad language in front of his sheep.

Mr Turner said: “The allegation was that bad language was used by an employee on the property in front of the sheep and that they could have been offended by the use of bad language.”

PETA submitted the complaint to Australia’s RSPCA, who confirmed they had investigated. The case collapsed, however, after it became clear the footage would not be legally admissible.

The farmer said he did not know if the sheep had their feelings hurt by the incident: “I still haven’t had a sheep come to me [to complain]. They didn’t even look offended to me after they were shorn.”

Yesterday, Breitbart London reported how PETA also wanted Britain’s oldest pub, Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, to change its name as it was offensive to chickens. Mimi Bekhechi, the organisation’s director said that changing the name to Ye Olde Clever Cocks would “reflect today’s rejection of needless violence and help celebrate chickens as the intelligent, sensitive and social animals they are.”

However, locals branded the move “bonkers”.