Katie Price angers PETA and causes Twitter uproar for dyeing horse pink

She came under fire for shaving love hearts into the coats of her daughter's ponies earlier this week, but now PETA has spoken out about television star Katie Price's latest photocall which involved a pink horse to launch her new reality show.

The former glamour model, previously known as Jordan, was promoting her new TLC reality series, Pony Club, at Fulham's Worx Studios on Wednesday night (27 April) where she paraded a horse around that was dyed pink and adorned with unicorn paraphernalia. Price also dressed up as a fluffy white unicorn herself, and convinced her husband Kieran Hayler and children, Princess and Junior, to wear pink and blue versions of the garish outfit too.

Whilst Price shocked fans with the flamboyant display, the director of PETA UK, Mimi Bekhechi, was outraged by her actions and slammed the Loose Women panellist for using the horse as a 'prop.' She said: "What could PETA possibly say that the public isn't already thinking?

"Horses are smart, complex animals, not props, and you show love for them not by carving symbols on a horse but by leaving the animal in peace," Mirror Online reports.

"If this horse suffers from toxic poisoning or has a fatal allergic reaction, Katie Price's next photo op may well be a mug shot," Bekhechi continued.

Price's cheating husband Hayler trotted along behind the model as the family showed their support, but still received further backlash from the public when the pictures spread online. One Twitter user wrote: "Today I saw Katie Price dressed as a unicorn with a pink pony. The horse's face says it all," whilst another put, ""What a disgrace! I thought she loved horses clearly I was wrong."

The 39-year-old mother of five, who has stables at her home and competes in dressage competitions, shared a number of snaps of her groomed horses on Instagram earlier this week which showed love heart patterns clipped into their coats.

The pictures caused a stir on the social media sharing site as one user replied with: "I know you love your horses and wouldn't harm them however something just makes me feel uneasy looking at this. It isn't natural and if they were in the wild they would look odd. It just looks bizarre and a bit silly, please consider." Another added: "It doesn't hurt them. But to me it's undignified – they are amazing, not fashion accessories."

Bekechi of PETA also spoke out about the clipping scandal, telling Mirror Online: "An unskilled groomer could easily nick a horse with clippers, causing cuts or lesions. Clipping patterns into a horse's hair is about human vanity and reduces smart, sensitive animals to playthings.

"If Ms Price wishes to shave hearts and diamonds into someone's hair, we suggest she use her own head and leave animals out of it," she continued.

In response to the backlash, Price's spokesperson told IBTimes UK: "There is full respect for PETA and the work that they do, however we are naturally disappointed by their comments, given that clipping is a very common process, causing no harm or upset to the horse, and in fact is carried out by many world class riders.

"The clipping was also carried out by a professional, not Katie herself. Katie has over one hundred animals on her farm, all of which are cared for and loved by the whole family.

"Contrary to reports made following the photo call yesterday, Katie didn't dye the horse herself. This was carried out by professionals along with the horse's handler. The dye is water-based and completely safe for animals," they added.