Joaquin Phoenix Stars In New PETA Us Video

For Immediate Release:
26 March 2010

Contact:
Sam Glover 020 7357 9229, ext 229; [email protected]

Hollywood, California – In an effort to get consumers to shed exotic-animal skins from their wardrobes, Joaquin Phoenix has filmed a new PETA US exposé showing what happens to  alligators, lizards and snakes before they are made into belts, bags and shoes.

“Did you know that mother snakes keep their eggs warm by wrapping their bodies around the eggs and then shivering to generate heat?” begins Phoenix in the video short. Phoenix, who appears on camera in the video, continues, “Exotic animals are mostly unknown to us, and so is what they suffer before being turned into belts and bags”.

In Africa, Asia and the US, exotic animals – including snakes, lizards, alligators and crocodiles – are hunted or raised and killed specifically for their skins. PETA US’ undercover video documents the following atrocities against exotic animals who are killed for their skins:
 
– A lizard is seen caught in a noose by his tail, upside down, in the wild. Other lizards are decapitated, and some of the animals writhe in agony as they are skinned alive.

– A live snake is nailed to a tree by her head, and her body is cut open from one end to the other before she is skinned alive.

– A snake’s head is shown writhing for several moments after it is severed, and a worker demonstrates how a snake’s heart beats for up to 40 minutes after it is removed.

– A worker clubs alligators on a crowded, filthy factory farm until they stop moving, but some animals remain alive. An alligator is seen writhing in pain.

For more information and to view the video, please click here. Broadcast-quality footage of Phoenix’s video is also available for download upon request.