The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investigating the death of Tweet, a giraffe best known from commercials where he played the Toys R Us mascot Geoffrey. Tweet died last Wednesday at Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo, after completing filming on “Zookeeper,” a new comedy. The official cause of death is a brain aneurysm or stoke, but PETA claims another possible explanation: ingestion of chunks of a toxic tarp that covered his pen.

“We’d be looking to see if Tweet’s death is related to any noncompliance with the Animal Welfare Act,” said PETA spokeswoman Jessica Milteer. The American Humane Film & TV Unit, however, insists that no tarp scraps were found in Tweet’s mouth or stomach after his death. We’ll wait for the official investigation to be completed before weighing in on this, but if it turns out Tweet choked on somebody else’s vomit, we’ll be very, very worried.

Feds to probe circumstances of ‘Tweet’ the giraffe’s death [Boston Herald]

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