WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: Author Jeanette Winterson sparks fury with skinned animal photos
AWARD-WINNING author Jeanette Winterson has caused outrage after posting a series of pictures online showing a rabbit she killed and cooked.
The writer first posted an image of a half-skinned rabbit with the caption: "Rabbit ate my parsley. I am eating the rabbit.".
She then proceeded to document the preparation and cooking of the meat, showing the jointed meat on a plate before adding it to a steaming pot with cider, rosemary and thyme.
She then finished by posting a picture of her cat heartily tucking into a plate of rabbit innards.
But the Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit author has faced a huge Twitter backlash for her postings.
Rabbit ate my parsley. I am eating the rabbit. pic.twitter.com/36rOpIxqxj
— JEANETTE WINTERSON (@Wintersonworld) June 15, 2014
Here is the rabbit washed and jointed for the pot pic.twitter.com/u3sWUAVIF9
— JEANETTE WINTERSON (@Wintersonworld) June 15, 2014
Rabbits are a pest, meat farms are cruel, This is a good solution
Jacqueline Looker tweeted: "i unfollow u,u make me sick. I will never again. read a word u write. Rest in peace little rabbit."
She added: "u said the rabbit ate ur parsley so u killed it. R u so poor that u have to eat a rabbit in a cruel trap? Then to post it?"
Winterson replied: "Do you only read vegetarians? If not, why is farmed meat fine but personally trapped game disgusting? Think about it."
Oops. You need THIS photo. pic.twitter.com/1SvzqaYUUd
— JEANETTE WINTERSON (@Wintersonworld) June 16, 2014
On the AGA in cider with rosemary and thyme pic.twitter.com/OdezgxYFZQ
— JEANETTE WINTERSON (@Wintersonworld) June 15, 2014
Yoyo Wan said: "You are sickening! I despise you for praising yourself and feeling proud for killing the poor rabbit".
Another Twitter user Elaine Harry wrote: "Please consider not eating meat. No matter how humane or 'eco' the death, animals are still souls without a voice."
Winterson also hit back at her critics by telling them she had trapped the rabbit in a cage next to her parsley bed and killed it humanely.
Today, she also tweeted: "Rabbits! At pest level they must be culled. This year is pest level in the countryside. Rabbits are sold @ market. Why not eat what u catch?".
Despite the criticism, many users tweeted their support for Winterson, who has a keen interest in food and has also opened her own organic food shop.
Sian Carter tweeted: "I'm a veggie but I'd rather see you & your 'handling' of that rabbit than the massed farmed animals that aren't appreciated".
Neil Sinclair added: "I have total respect for what you did, @Wintersonworld and Im a vegetarian. Rabbits are a pest, meat farms are cruel, This is a good solution".
A spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said: "Jeanette Winterson makes a solid point about the horrors of modern farming, but that doesn't diminish her own callousness.
"Rabbits are sensitive, smart, social animals who form life-long bonds, and each has a personality in his or her own right.
"Snuffing them out for a fleeting moment of taste is arrogant, ignorant and cruel, whether they are trapped, factory farmed or shot.