Of pigs and men

I live in Whitechapel, a part of London with a large Muslim population. The other day while walking down the street I noticed a couple looking with shock at an advertisement. I can't remember what the ad was about but it depicted a gentleman with a pig's snout instead of a human nose. The man pointed at the snout and shouted 'pig!' angrily and glared, in unison, with his wife. The episode reminded me of the time a family friend back home got a letter from her parents requesting that she not partake in the school biology class because they were going to dissect a pig's eye.

I understand the socio-economic underpinnings of most cultural sensitivities and the need to be sensitive to them. Nevertheless, I often wonder why some Muslims get so worked up about such trivial matters.