US Shoppers Hopping Mad Over Frog-Dissection Kit

[Guest guest]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - On the first day of Christmas my true love gave

to me ... a frog dissection kit?

 

Shoppers at upscale U.S. menswear and accessory store Jack Spade in

Manhattan's trendy SoHo district were hopping mad to see frog

dissection kits selling alongside $775 (407 pounds) leather file

cases and $145 Italian calfskin passport holders.

 

The $40 kit came in a cloth bag complete with a vacuum-sealed

formaldehyde-treated frog, scissors, magnifying glass, forceps,

probing sticks, ruler, instruction booklet on how to explore the

animal's innards, and a moist towelette.

 

After a barrage of complaints from shoppers and animal activists, the

store said on Tuesday that it had cleared its shelves of the kits and

would no longer offer them.

 

" We're going to issue an apology, " said company spokesman Mordechai

Rubinstein.

 

" The intent was to celebrate science and biology, present something

educational for children and adults, " he said. " Jack Spade doesn't

support the unethical treatment of animals. "

 

Animal campaign group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

said it wrote to the company last week after receiving complaints

about the product.

 

" We were shocked to discover that the dissection kit contains the

carcass of a real frog, " said spokesman Michael McGraw.

 

The Jack Spade store said it only sold a handful of the kits before

ditching the idea.