Photos: PETA Activists Demand that the Kooples ‘Break Up’ with Fur and Angora

For Immediate Release:

29 October 2015

Contact:

Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327, ext 222; [email protected]

PHOTOS: PETA ACTIVISTS DEMAND THAT THE KOOPLES ‘BREAK UP’ WITH FUR AND ANGORA

PETA Protesters Point to Cruelty to Bunnies, Foxes and Coyotes on International Day of Action

Leeds– PETA protesters descended on The Kooples’ Leeds store today to demand that the French retailer “break up” with fur and angora products. Other protests took place at The Kooples shops in London, Edinburgh and elsewhere around the world.

Photos from the event are available here, here and here.

“It’s shameful for a brand that celebrates love to sell the fur that was ripped out of or peeled off sensitive animals’ bodies”, says PETA Director Mimi Bekhechi. “PETA is calling on The Kooples to have a heart and break up with cruel angora and fur products for good.”

Recent PETA exposés have revealed that workers on angora farms tie rabbits down and rip the fur out of their skin, leaving behind bloody wounds, while the animals scream in pain. Rabbits and other animals killed for their fur are confined to cramped, filthy cages and are electrocuted or gassed or have their throats slit before they’re skinned. This video, narrated by Paloma Faith, reveals what life is like for animals on fur farms in Europe and around the globe – even in countries that claim to have high welfare standards. Animals who are trapped in the wild, such as foxes and coyotes, can suffer for days from blood loss or dehydration and are at risk of being attacked by predators. They may be caught in steel-jaw traps that slam down on their legs, often to the bone, before finally being suffocated or bludgeoned to death once the trapper returns.

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear” – is calling on The Kooples to join Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Inditex and the many other designers and retailers who’ve taken fur and angora wool off their shelves and committed to permanent bans.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.