Animal rights group Peta offers Sharon Stone a brain scan

Peta, the animal-rights group, has offered to scan US actress and fur lover Sharon Stone's brain to determine whether her comments and actions that seem to demonstrate a lack of empathy are the result of a physical defect.

Comments by Stone (left) about bad karma being a possible cause of the Sichuan earthquake infuriated people in China and led to a public apology - of sorts. It is still not clear whether she accepted the statement of apology issued in her name.

'I am writing with an offer that could provide an opportunity for you to escape all future public condemnation when you show insensitivity to the suffering of others,' Ingrid Newkirk, Peta's president, wrote in a letter. 'Given that millions of people - including children - were killed, injured and left homeless by the recent earthquake in China, everyone was shocked to hear you dismiss the devastating effects of this disaster.

'We are used to the indifference that you flaunt and the callous remarks that you make about the suffering and death of the animals whose fur you wear.

'Scientific studies suggest that the prefrontal regions of the brains of people who lack empathy might be underdeveloped. Here's our offer: Would you allow Peta to pay for a scan of the prefrontal region of your brain to determine if comments and actions that seem to demonstrate a lack of empathy are the result of a physical defect?'

Stone has not responded. But a Peta spokeswoman in Hong Kong said: 'We have our physicians on standby!'