Nike Bans Exotic-Animal Skins Following PETA Undercover Investigation

Shoe Giant Makes Compassionate Policy Change After Receiving Footage of Exotic Animals Being Skinned Alive

For Immediate Release:
February 24, 2010

Contact:
Melissa Wilson 757-622-7382

Portland, Ore. -- After receiving video footage from PETA Asia’s new undercover investigation exposing the extreme suffering caused by the exotic-skins industry, Beaverton-based Nike and its affiliate Cole Haan announced that they will stop selling products that are made from exotic skins.

According to Nike's revised company policy, "Animal Skins must not be any species considered to be exotic. Examples include, but are not limited to alligator, crocodile, lizard, snake, ostrich, fish, marine mammals, etc." Click here to watch PETA's expose exposing the abuse suffered by exotic animals killed for their skins.

"Every snakeskin bag, shoe, or jacket sold in a trendy boutique comes with a high price--and it's paid by animals who are torn away from their jungle homes and cruelly killed," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "We're asking retailers worldwide to follow Nike's lead and step away from cruelty to animals by giving exotic leather 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. PETA's undercover video documents the following atrocities against exotic animals who are killed for their skins: 
 
* A lizard is seen caught in a noose by his tail, upside down, in the wild. Other lizards are decapitated, and some of the animals writhe in agony as they are skinned alive.
* A live snake is nailed to a tree by her head, and her body is cut open from one end to the other before she is skinned alive.
* A worker clubs alligators on a crowded, filthy factory farm until they stop moving, but some animals remain alive. An alligator is seen writhing in pain.

Nike is the world's leading shoe manufacturer. Its annual sales for the fiscal year 2009 exceeded $19 billion. The company does business in more than 160 countries, and approximately 675 Nike-owned retail stores operate in the U.S. and abroad. Cole Haan stores can be found in Canada, Japan, and 25 U.S. states.

Broadcast-quality footage of exotic animals killed for their skins is available. For more information, please visit PETA.org.