Katy Perry Accused Of 'Absolute Ignorance' Over Koalas Ad

(Radio.com) Katy Perry's whirlwind Witness promotional schedule has apparently included filmed advertisements for Australian department store chain Myer. In one clip about a Witness world tour ticket giveaway, Perry playfully motions to her teacup poodle and says, 'Let's go chase some koalas, nugget!"

This caused some controversy because as few as 43,000 koalas are estimated to live in the wild and hundreds are treated each year after dog attacks. It turns out that dogs-chasing-koalas is a pretty big conservation problem Down Under, and local animal rights activists were up in arms about Perry's comment.

"This is just absolute ignorance from Perry and Myer, and inappropriate on so many levels" said Claire Madden, a veterinarian who's worked at Australia Zoo and Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. "Perry is a role model to so many young people, and this just destroys all the good work we do to try to encourage people not to let their dogs come into contact with koalas." Read more here.