A nightclub manager said he has been forced to cancel plans to hire a live zebra after complaints from animal welfare groups.
Carbon bar had printed posters promising a zebra at its Zoo club night as a "first" for the Oxford club scene.
Manager Jan Zarecky said it had been planned as "a bit of fun".
The RSPCA spokeswoman said it had worries the zebra's safety would be "unnecessarily compromised for the purpose of entertainment."
"If the Zebra was to be kept outside a noisy nightclub we would be very concerned," she added.
'Serengeti scene'Mr Zarecky said the animal had been booked from an animal acting agency.
"It wasn't ever meant to cause anyone offence. It purely was a bit of fun. The zebra was going to go out in front of the building. We were planning to build a pen made from crowd barriers and decorated with bamboo to set a Serengeti scene."
He said he was "massively surprised" by the amount of opposition from animal rights groups.
Comments were also posted on the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter.
One said: "Would those who support it take their own pets to stand outside the nightclub ahead of a queue of loud, possibly drunken revellers? Not really the place for any animal."
Oxfordshire County Council Trading Standards confirmed it had discussed the idea with the club but said its officers had "reservations" about the proposal.
The club's application for a Performing Animals Licence was withdrawn before it was considered by council officials.
Mr Zarecky said he was not going to rule out hiring animals in future but that next time the club would do things differently.
He added "I'm open to anything that's legal and accepted by society as a whole."
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