People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA for short, don’t mind stirring up controversy to drive home their point.

Take May last year, for example, when they popped fake organs into handbags in a stunt that gained worldwide attention.

How do you top that? Well, you go after Steve Irwin on what would have been his 57th birthday, sparking a backlash from right around the world.

The story starts with Google Doodle’s decision to honour Irwin on Friday, February 22, with a range of Doodles.

You can see the full range and some info here, but we’ll pop this below:

Crikey! Today’s #GoogleDoodle celebrates Steve Irwin’s legacy with a look into his journey as a zookeeper, conservationist and father → https://t.co/ReUFNq31Dl pic.twitter.com/K8hQtwF3FN

— Google (@Google) February 22, 2019

Seems harmless enough, honouring a bloke who genuinely seemed to care about the wellbeing of the world’s animals.

Enter PETA, barreling in from way out of left field, to knock Steve down a peg.

Here’s the tweet in question:

Crikey’s right, Google Doodles.

They then added this to the thread:

Steve isn’t immune to criticism just because he passed away, but really?

According to the Evening Standard, it didn’t take long for the outrage machine to kick into gear:

American author Maureen Johnson responded: “Steve Irwin and his family reclaim land for animals and run a massive wildlife rescue.

“His life mission was to save animals and educate people about them. I’m one of many vegetarians who rip out their hair when PETA weighs in. Shame on you.”

Here’s a clip of Steve from back in the day, speaking about why he loves money so much:

bro i’m sorry what??? like even look at the comments! pic.twitter.com/VDFFBhRjBM

— M3RChandise (@PizzaPackLife) February 24, 2019

Back to the criticism from right around the globe:

South African actress Lesly-Ann Brandt said: “That man dedicated his life to saving Australian wildlife and he is still doing so from the grave as I’ve seen first hand while visiting Australia over the years.

“You guys need choose your battles wisely. Attacking Steve Irwin does not save animals.”

One Twitter user said: “Steve Irwin got up close and personal with wildlife (at the risk of his own safety) to show us, the sheltered masses, the beauty, majesty, and amazing things to be found in nature.

“You, PETA, are just a bunch of sharks who feed on controversy while doing nothing useful.”

There were plenty of decent memes in that PETA thread, too:

Solid effort.

Whilst Steve’s on-screen antics would probably be received quite differently if he filmed them today, his legacy still speaks for itself.

Take wildlife conservationist Anneka Svenska, for example, who sums things up well in a BBC piece:

Svenska says that what he did “has inspired the next generation of conservationists…at the time he was doing it, it inspired loads and loads of children to go on and work with animals.”

…”I still really like Steve Irwin, I was a fan of him, I think he did a lot of good,” she says.

“The powerful influence he’s had on children and how they love animals and how they engage with animals has been extremely valuable.

“I think if you have to weigh up the good and the bad, he did more good than bad.”

The final word can go to Bindi Irwin, Steve’s daughter:

[sources:eveningstandard&bbc]