DIMITRIOS KAMBOURIS | GETTY IMAGES

PETE DAVIDSON isn’t done causing chaos. After calling Jake Paul “a shitbag of a human being” in December 2021, being trolled by Kanye West for three months last year and likely enraging a few of his former flames (he’s famously dated many of Hollywood’s most eligible women); Davidson is now in the proverbial dog house with yet another high-profile group. Yes, the former SNL star is at war with none other than animal rights organisation PETA.

Davidson became the activist group’s latest target after he was recently filmed purchasing a Cavapoo (that’s cavalier-poodle) dog with his latest fling Chase Sui Wonders at a Manhattan pet store. Sound adorably innocent? Not according to PETA’s senior VP of cruelty investigations (yes, a real title) Daphna Nachminovitch who blasted the comedian for “shopping” for dogs instead of adopting, during a character-scathing interview with TMZ.

“It’s tragic that Pete didn’t seek out a borough-born mutt from a city animal shelter because a scrappy New Yorker with charm, personality, and unconventional handsomeness could have been his perfect match,” Nachminovitch told the outlet. “Since shelters in New York and across the country are overflowing with homeless animals, PETA urges Pete to show some big heart energy by adopting, not shopping, in the future.”

Yes, Nachminovitch really went there.

While Davidson could have played the underdog and let this one slide — he decided to call out PETA by actually, well, calling them. The 29-year-old left a rather disgruntled and expletive-laden message voicemail for Nachminovitch (TMZ has the full voicemail), in which he told her he is “severely allergic to dogs” so he can’t adopt just any breed.

“Hi, my name is Pete Davidson. This message is for Daphna. Thank you so much for making comments publicly that I didn’t adopt a dog. I just want to let you know I’m severely allergic to dogs, so I have to get a specific breed. I’m only not allergic to Cavapoos,” Davidson began, before noting the dog was actually for his mother and sister. “And my mom’s fucking dog, who’s 2 years old, died a week prior, and we’re all so sad, so I had to get a specific dog. So why don’t you do your research before you fuckin’ create news stories for people because you’re a boring, tired [bleeped out]?”

Unfortunately for Davidson, PETA wasn’t about to back down quick so quickly. The organisation quickly clapped back to TMZ — maintaining that had Davidson done his research, he would have learnt there is “no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog.”

“If Pete had done his research, he would know that there’s no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog, that at least a quarter of dogs in shelters are purebreds, and that Petfinder has listings for homeless dogs of every breed under the sun, including the one he purchased.”

The King of Staten Island actor then tried the guilt card when he rebutted with: “I haven’t seen my mom and sister cry like that in over 20 years.” He explained to TMZ, “I was trying to cheer up my family. I was already upset that the store had filmed me without my permission or acknowledgment. Then this organisation made a public example of us, making our grieving situation worse. I am upset. It was a poor choice of words. I shouldn’t have said what I said, but I am not sorry for standing up for myself and my family.”

Even so, the family sob story didn’t stop PETA from having the final word — as they unsympathetically concluded with: “there’s no excuse for promoting the puppy mill industry.”

“We know Pete cares about animals and was trying to do a nice thing for his family, but he has millions of impressionable fans, and his choices matter—so the next time he’s ready to welcome an animal into the family, we hope he makes the compassionate choice to adopt, not buy.”

Fortunately, Davison’s fans have his back — or at least a billboard — to support him when the going gets tough. The Center for Organisational Research and Education (CORE), which claims to “expose” activist groups, put up a USD $15,000 billboard at Times Square in Davidson’s defence.

“PETA CAN’T HANDLE PETE’S BDE,” it said next to a photo of the comedian, with the “BDE” acronym standing for “buy-dog energy” this time. Just to clear that up. But it didn’t take long for PETA to get pissed off by Manhattan’s latest big board advertising, so they furiously inundated the billboard’s owning company to get the billboard down. Davidson has yet to comment on the PETA’s latest takedown, but he seems to be just swell — attending the Transformers: Rise of The Beasts premiere on Tuesday night.