Yesterday, the family of Ozzy Osbourne announced his passing, and since the confirmation, tributes from both fans and celebrities have been pouring in from all directions.

Various companies and organizations have also stepped forward to express their condolences following the Black Sabbath star's death at age 76, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, commonly known as PETA.

However, the message they shared soon after Osbourne's death has left many people puzzled due to a particular word choice used to describe him, which critics clearly disagree with.

For some background, Osbourne first collaborated with PETA in 2020.

He became the face of their campaign against declawing cats, using the slogan 'It’s an Amputation. Not a Manicure,' with a press release quoting him as saying: "Amputating a cat’s toes is twisted and wrong."

Ozzy Osbourne passed away aged 76 yesterday morning (22 July) (Ilya S. Savenok / Contributor / Getty Images)

"If your couch is more important to you than your cat’s well-being and happiness, you don’t deserve to have an animal!

"Get cats a scratching post - don’t mutilate them for life."

PETA's statement

The statement from PETA's Senior Vice President, Lisa Lange, on Osbourne's passing reads: "Ozzy Osbourne was a legend and a provocateur, but PETA will remember the 'Prince of Darkness' most fondly for the gentle side he showed to animals - most recently cats, by using his fame to decry painful, crippling declawing mutilations.

"Ozzy may have been the singer, but his wife, Sharon, and his daughter, Kelly, were united in their voice when it came to protecting animals."

The tribute concluded: "Ozzy will be missed by animal advocates worldwide."

However, not all fans may be aware that Osbourne has been infamously linked to several instances of animal abuse.

The doves incident

In 1981, Osbourne attended a meeting with CBS Records executives in Los Angeles.

This meeting occurred before his solo career took off, and it was evident that he wanted to make a shocking impression.

To achieve this, Osbourne reportedly brought two live white doves, considered 'symbols of peace,' intending to release them as part of a grand gesture.

Instead, in a moment of impulse, he bit the head off one dove and tore the head off another, leaving the record company executives understandably horrified.

He later told rock biographer Mick Wall that a PR woman at the meeting had been annoying him.

According to Wall's book, Black Sabbath: Symptoms of the Universe, Osbourne 'pulled out one of these doves and bit its [expletive] head off just to silence her.'

"Then I did it again with the next dove," he added, "spitting the head out on the table."

"That's when they threw me out. They said I'd never work for CBS again."

However, he later shared a slightly different version of the story with Sounds' magazine's Garry Bushell.

"The scam is the bird was dead. We were planning to release it there, but it died beforehand. So rather than waste it, I bit its head off," he explained.

"You should have seen their faces. They all turned white. They were speechless."

Regardless, the incident made headlines and solidified the Birmingham-born singer's reputation as the 'Prince of Darkness.'

PETA has now shared a tribute following the Black Sabbath star's passing (Scott Dudelson / Contributor / Getty Images)

The bat incident

During a concert on January 20, 1982, in Des Moines, Iowa, a fan threw what the 'Iron Man' singer believed to be a fake rubber bat onto the stage.

Osbourne, known for his theatrical and shocking stage antics, picked it up and bit its head off.

However, the bat turned out to be real, though already dead, and while it wasn’t animal abuse in the sense of killing a live creature on stage, it was deeply disturbing and considered disrespectful toward animal life.

Upon realizing what had happened, the heavy metal icon was immediately taken to the hospital for rabies shots.

Reflecting on the incident in 2006, he told the BBC: "This bat comes on. I thought it was one of them Hallowe'en joke bats 'cos it had some string around its neck.

"I bite into it, and I look to my left and Sharon [Osbourne, his wife and then manager] was going [gesturing no].

"And I'm like, what are you talking about? She [says], 'it's a dead real bat.' And I'm... I know now!"

Although Ozzy claimed he thought the bat was a toy, the act shocked the public and became one of the most notorious moments in rock history.

Osbourne was dubbed the 'Prince of Darkness' (Michael Ochs Archives / Stringer / Getty Images)

The cats incident

In an interview with Guitar Legends, Osbourne admitted to shooting 17 of his cats in the 1980s.

"I was taking drugs so much I was a wreck," he said. "The final straw came when I shot all our cats. We had about 17, and I went crazy and shot them all. My wife found me under the piano in a white suit, a shotgun in one hand and a knife in the other."

In 2000, Rolling Stone reported that Osbourne admitted to shooting a 'henhouse full of chickens,' snorting a 'line of ants' and eating a bat's head.

". . . he has shot up a henhouse full of chickens and killed a whole gang of cats and snorted a line of ants like they were a line of cocaine and bitten the head off a bat, and catapulted meat (stomach and intestines, mostly) into his audience," the article stated.

People were left seriously confused over one particular word used in PETA's statement (Scott Dudelson / Contributor / Getty Images)

'How is that gentle'

PETA's use of the phrase 'the gentle side he showed to animals' when discussing Osbourne's legacy has understandably not resonated well with people online, given the numerous instances that highlighted quite the opposite.

Taking to social media, one X user wrote: "He bit the head off a bat lmao how is that gentle?"

"He bit the heads off of 2 living animals you twits!" exclaimed a second, while a third chimed in: "How dare you! He killed a bat on stage by biting off its head! How do you support such things!?!?!?"

Another questioned: "PETA... Is this really you posting?"

And a final X user echoed: "I honestly thought this was a satire account posting this."

Tyla has reached out to PETA for comment.