Burger King withdraws Twix to honor dead cat

Burger King Russia will stop selling Twix ice-cream at its restaurants following a recent highly publicized incident where a pet cat with the same name died after being thrown off a train, the news outlet Federal Press reported on Tuesday, citing the company’s marketing director Ivan Shestov.

According to Shestov, the fast-food chain’s decision is aimed at drawing attention to the problem of animal abuse.

“The story of Twix the cat shocked a huge number of Russians. We believe it would be unethical and inhumane to sell Twix ice-cream in such a situation,” he told the news outlet.

The incident with the cat occurred on January 11 when the pet was traveling from Yekaterinburg to St. Petersburg with the stepfather of its owner. During a scheduled stop in Kirov, a train attendant found the animal wandering the carriage after escaping its crate and, apparently thinking it was a stray, threw it off the train.

Twix’s story, including the CCTV footage from the railway station cameras that showed the attendant carrying the cat and throwing it out of the train and into the snow, received broad coverage in the Russian media and has been widely discussed online. It even prompted a mass search in Kirov over a week after Twix’s disappearance. However, the cat was eventually found dead on January 20.

An online petition was launched demanding criminal prosecution of the attendant, but so far the individual has only been suspended from work, according to media reports.

Russian Railways apologized for the incident and announced a review of its rules on transporting animals.

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