People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is protesting a the use of penguins in the film Batman Returns. In the offending scene, penguins are sent to Gotham City with missiles strapped to their backs. PETA spokesman Steven Simmons says the animal rights organization objects to the use of the exotic birds in the film because "wild animals belong in the wild... The process of caging and transporting penguins is quite traumatizing." After PETA staged a protest at the Hollywood premiere, Simmons said that the group is not calling for an all-out boycott of the film, but "would like to create a demand for cruelty-free entertainment."

Warner Bros., in turn, released a statement saying the gadgets and the headgear fitted to the birds were made out of lightweight plastic and that none of the penguins was mistreated.

Oddly enough, PETA ignored genuinely cruel depictions of violence against animals in the film: where the young villain, the Penguin, eats a cat; the older Penguin eats raw fish; and Catwoman shoves a live bird in her mouth.

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