PETA US Protesters in Heels and Hazmat Suits Call On Hermès to Ban Exotic Skins
PETA US Protesters in Heels and Hazmat Suits Call On Hermès to Ban Exotic Skins
New York – “Prevent Pandemics: Ban Exotic Skins”. That’s the message PETA US supporters in stilettos, hazmat suits, and gas masks sent at Hermès’ Madison Avenue boutique yesterday – all while carrying protest signs shaped like Kelly bags. The protest follows the brand’s decision to dig in its heels at its annual meeting this week by refusing to answer a question from PETA US about an exotic skins ban. PETA US – a Hermès shareholder – tried to confront executives over plans to build what would be Australia’s largest crocodile factory farm.
High-resolution photos from the action are available here.
“Today’s conscious customers know what they want – and that isn’t the skin of a tortured animal,” says PETA Director Elisa Allen. “PETA urges Hermès to follow in the footsteps of the many designers who embrace innovative, fashion-forward materials – because animals don’t need to be killed for a killer look.”
PETA notes that keeping wild animals captive in unsanitary conditions gave rise to COVID-19 and poses a significant risk of future pandemics. Past PETA exposés have revealed that alligators and crocodiles at Hermès supplier farms are confined to dank pools and crowded concrete pits. Harrowing footage of the exotic animals killed for “luxury” accessories showed workers cutting into their spines while they were still alive and peeling off their skin. This killing method has been shown to be inhumane, and experts have found that crocodilians remain conscious for over an hour after their spinal cord has been severed and their blood vessels cut.
The full question asked by PETA US at Hermès’ annual meeting is available here.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow the group on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Contact:
Sascha Camilli +44 (0) 20 7923 6244; [email protected]
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