PETA Reminds Holiday Shoppers That Animals Deserve Peace and Goodwill Too

For Immediate Release:
December 3, 2008

Contact:
Colleen Higgins 757-622-7382

St. Louis -- Wearing a "bloody" fur coat and a fox mask and holding a sign that reads, "What if You Were Killed for Your Coat?" a PETA member will confine herself to a small cage at 720 Olive St. on Thursday. Other PETA members will hand out leaflets explaining why holiday shoppers should cross anything with fur--even if it's "just a little trim"--off their shopping lists.

On fur farms, animals spend their entire lives in tiny, filthy cages, where they suffer physical and psychological distress before they are killed by poisoning, gassing, anal electrocution, or neck-breaking. Animals trapped for fur suffer excruciating pain, often for days, before trappers stomp on their chests or break their necks. PETA has obtained video footage of fur farms in China--now the world's leading fur exporter--showing foxes and raccoon dogs who are panting and blinking as they are skinned alive. Millions of dogs and cats are killed in China for their fur, which is often intentionally mislabeled as fur from other species.

"Animals on fur farms are literally dying to get out of their cages," says Christina Dang, the PETA member who will be caged at the event. "I can leave the cage any time I want. The only time animals on fur farms leave their cages is when they are killed or die from neglect."

Where: 720 Olive St., St. Louis
When: Thursday, December 4, 12 noon

For more information, please visit PETA's Web site FurIsDead.com.