As two American PETA members approached the entrance to Russian Fashion Week in Moscow with their "Wear Your Own Skin" signs, they were suddenly surrounded by camera flashes and microphones.

The women were impressed that nearly 30 journalists had turned out for their naked anti-fur and -leather demonstration, but before they could even unzip their jackets, the women were mobbed a second time—by police. They were held for a day at the Moscow police department.

Despite the harrowing ordeal, the women were upbeat, calling the day "a success" because of all the media attention their arrest brought to the cruel treatment of animals killed for their skins.

The duo continued their protest tour and received warm welcomes in cold cities throughout Europe, including in Tallinn, Estonia, where people knew enough English to tell them, "Good, good."

And in Helsinki, Finland, passersby learned how rabbits are skinned alive for their fur when they stopped to pose for pictures with our "snow bunnies."

What would you do to stop cruelty to animals? Get started now.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Like a warm-weather Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny delivers baskets full of treats to children every year. But photographers who use real rabbits as props in Easter photos shouldn't expect anything in their baskets but plastic grass.
  

Unlike real rabbits, this Easter bunny doesn’t mind being taken out of the wild for photo shoots.                                            zappowbang/cc by 2.0

 
Rabbits are easily stressed by unfamiliar surroundings and terrified by loud noises and sudden movements. They often panic when handled, and a frightened rabbit can bite or scratch children. They are also delicate animals whose spines can snap if they kick or if they're dropped or even held improperly. And when Easter is over, these animals are often abandoned at shelters or dumped outside, where they are killed by predators.

Please don't support businesses that use live animals as props. Many national portrait studios have policies against using live animals, such as Sears Portrait Studio and LifeTouch Inc. studios in Target and JCPenney stores. Stuffed animals are a simple, humane alternative, as are Easter bunnies of the costumed variety.

Written by Michelle Sherrow