Mango Bans Exotic-Animal Skins Following PETA Meeting

Cruelty to Snakes and Alligators Moves International Retailer to Adopt Policy Change

For Immediate Release:
November 17, 2011

Contact:
Robbyn Brooks 202-483-7382 

Barcelona, Spain -- Leading international clothing and accessory retailer Mango has banned the use of exotic skins in its product lines after meeting with PETA and learning about the extreme animal suffering caused by the exotic-skins industry. Mango is based in Barcelona and has a total of 2,060 stores in 104 countries worldwide, including 89 in the U.S.

"Although we aren't as familiar with snakes and alligators as we are with the cats and dogs with whom we share our lives, exotic animals suffer every bit as much when beaten, skinned alive, and killed," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "We're asking retailers worldwide to follow Mango's lead by giving exotic skins the boot."

In Africa, Asia, and the U.S., exotic animals—including snakes, lizards, alligators, and crocodiles—are hunted or raised and killed specifically for their skins. Alligators and crocodiles killed for their skins are stabbed in the neck with a metal chisel or bludgeoned with metal bats. PETA Asia's undercover investigations have shown that live snakes are nailed to trees by their heads before their skin is torn off their writhing bodies. They can suffer for hours before they die.

Mango joins H&M, Nike subsidiary Cole Haan (a manufacturer of high-end accessories and shoes with stores in the U.S., Canada, and Japan), and others in adopting animal welfare policies that ban exotic skins.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.