Written by PETA
Any other Project Runway fans out there? Yep, that's what I thought! I am just dying for them to announce the date for the new season. I mean, yeah, the clothes are awesome and the drama is entertaining, but I'll admit that the real reason I tune in is to see the true genius behind the show: Tim Gunn. Know what his next project is? Convincing Donna Karan and Giorgio Armani to forgo fur! Yes, that's right. America's best-known arbiter of good taste and style has just narrated PETA's new exposé of fur farms—including just-obtained footage of rabbit fur farms in China, where Karan and Armani both source their pelts. Check out the video here:
Because the designers have refused to meet with PETA to view the footage, Gunn has just sent it to them with a personal plea. Why is the fur flying over Chinese pelts in particular? The world's largest exporter of fur is now China—where foxes, rabbits, and cats and dogs are often skinned alive.
"Any designer in the fashion industry who does not want to watch the PETA video and see exactly what happens to animals and how they're treated and how the product that they use comes to the marketplace I believe is egregiously irresponsible," says Tim. "It is critically important that we all be educated about these matters and then make choices."
And it gets better: Tim also sat down with us for an exclusive Q&A!
There. I told you he's a genius! If anyone can make Donna Karan and Giorgio Armani "make it work" without using the skins of dead animals in their collections, he can. Carry on! (I just wanted to say that …)
Written by Lianne Turner
We're so proud to launch our new Web site: DonnaKaranBunnyButcher.com. By going back on her promise to shed fur from her collection (twice!), Donna Karan has made it clear that she's OK with the electrocutions, neglect, confinement, suffocation, and death that go on in factory farms. In response, we've shown up at her apartment, her fashion shows, and her runways to remind her that animals are skinned alive for her designs. Now, we've stepped it up and launched a full interactive Web site to educate her customers about this cruel abuse.
If you like the campaign site as much as we do, then you're probably wondering what you can do to help us reach more people. Well, guess what? The site is loaded with online elements such as Web banners that you can post and videos that you can stream. So go ahead and show your love of bunnies by posting one of these Web banners to your Web page or online profile:
The site also has three heartbreaking videos that I strongly encourage you to watch and share. They will change your life, and they're guaranteed to make fur wearers change their ways. Use the code below to begin changing people's minds now.
And to all our MySpace friends: Keep an eye out for our new "Donna Karan Bunny Butcher" layouts coming soon!
So, check out DonnaKaranBunnyButcher.com and be sure to share the site with everyone you know. Oh, and here is the link with Donna Karan's contact information—please be sure to send her a polite letter and let her know what you think of her use of fur. For inspiration before you sit down to write, check out our "Ever Heard a Bunny Scream?" video.
Written by Liz Graffeo
I honestly can't tell who's more stunning in PETA Europe's new anti-fur ad—Topsy, or Natalie Imbruglia! I mean, sure, Natalie's gorgeous, but Topsy has such fluffy ears ….
Really, though, "Torn" artist Natalie Imbruglia really shines in her new ad, which points out that even a "little fur trim" is the product of an industry that skins animals alive.
"There is no kind way to rip the skin off animals' backs. In the wild, animals are caught in snares and steel-jaw traps that slam down on their limbs—they often cut down to the bone and mutilate animals' legs and paws," Natalie says—and that kind of torture is a part of every piece of fur we see. Natalie continues, "Anyone who wears any fur shares the blame for the torture and gruesome deaths of millions of animals each year."
This isn't the first time Natalie has spoken out against fur, by the way. In 2005, she told Cosmopolitan just how she felt about fur when she shared her opinion of furry Jennifer Lopez. Oh, Natalie, you took the words right out of our mouths!
So when you go shopping for that new winter coat, don't forget to make sure that all the trim is totally faux—and you can check out PETA's Shopping Guide to Compassionate Clothing for some great cruelty-free resources. Topsy will thank you for it!
Written by Amanda Schinke
So as you know, Giorgio Armani has been on PETA's bad list lately. Promising to go fur-free and then reneging on the idea altogether in order to make rabbit-fur outfits for babies really just isn't something we appreciate (I think the animals would agree …).
Hearing this loud and clear, A-list actress and compassionate PETA friend Gillian Anderson really came through to lend her support to this issue. Her voice can now be heard narrating a shocking, moving investigation video that takes you into the depths of rabbit fur farming.
The video was unveiled earlier today at a news conference outside Armani's Michigan Avenue store in Chicago. I strongly encourage you to watch this video and pledge to be fur-free. Gillian, PETA, and all the rabbits of the world will thank you for it.
Written by Christine Doré
Following a PETA action alert and protests targeting the company, which resulted in thousands of emails to Petsmart Corporate over the last three months, Petsmart has announced that they will no longer sell rabbits in their stores! “At this time,” writes Petsmart (using perhaps my least favorite prepositional phrase ever), “we’re not expanding the test and will not continue to sell dwarf bunnies beyond those already in or planned for our stores.” Given the thousands of rabbits who are abandoned to die in shelters every year, this is big news for bunnies—and for those who care about their well-being.
This doesn’t mean the end of our campaign against Petsmart, which continues to sell other animals like hamsters, rats, fish, lizards, and birds—who are just as prone to suffering at the company’s hands—but it’s an important sign that direct pressure on the company from consumers will make them listen. Petsmart claims that this was purely a business decision (“we failed to meet the business objectives”), which means that we need to continue to go after their bottom line by boycotting their stores—you’d be surprised to see how many “business decisions” turn into “ethical decisions” when a company realizes that consumers are outraged at their practices. A huge thank you to everyone who called or wrote to Petsmart about this issue—if you haven’t already, please take this opportunity to let them know that you appreciate this decision but will continue to boycott their stores until they end all animal sales. Please also ask that they turn the remaining rabbits over to a reputable rabbit placement group which can ensure that they won’t be used as Christmas presents and will go into permanent, responsible homes.
About seven years ago, PetSmart CEO Phillip Francis made a commitment not to sell rabbits in PetSmart stores because of the high numbers of bunnies who are dumped in shelters after the novelty of an impulse purchase wears off. "Our brand name stands for ethics, quality, health and good care for animals and we're always willing to forego the short run marginal sale because our standards are higher and our ethics are little bit better," he said. Well, either that was an empty promise or else PetSmart Corporate decided it was a good business decision to lower their ethical standards in the intervening years, since the company has announced that it will start selling rabbits in its stores, despite the thousands of rabbits who are abandoned to die in shelters every year.
As you probably know, we're pretty unhappy with the company as it is, based on their lousy record of animal care and their refusal to stop selling animals in the first place. So we sent our own bunny to sort them out. Check out the pics below, and an article about the protest here. And you can write to PetSmart about this issue at http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/petsmart_rabbit_cruelty.
N.B. Please note that I was able to avoid using the phrase "hopping mad" throughout this entire post. I feel like I deserve some credit for showing such considerable restraint.
As I may have mentioned before, POM Wonderful has apparently decided that the juice industry is just too damn wholesome. The images of healthy kids and smiling parents guzzling delicious, vitamin-filled beverages are fine and all, but there's just not enough blood for POM's tastes. The company's ingenious solution has been to start doing all sorts of animal tests. Not, like, taste tests, but proper suffocating-mice and slicing-up-live-rabbits kind of tests.
We have found this to be somewhat upsetting. Yesterday, we launched our campaign against POM's animal experiments outside their headquarters in Los Angeles. The pictures and video tell most of the story, but a lovely little side note was when POM's security tried to block the protesters from public view by parking a big truck in front of the demonstration. Except they parked in a red zone, the LAPD got involved, tickets were issued, and everybody except POM thought the whole thing was kind of wonderful. Anyway, moral of the story: Test juice on animals and face the combined wrath of PETA, the LAPD, and a giant rabbit on your doorstep. Nobody wants that.
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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