PETA Praises Overstock.com for Taking Stand Against Exotic-Animal Skins

International Retailer Adopts a Compassionate Policy in Response to Cruelty to Reptiles, Kangaroos 

For Immediate Release:
January 4, 2010

Contact:
Melissa Wilson 757-622-7382

Salt Lake City -- After receiving video footage from PETA's brand-new investigation exposing the extreme suffering caused by the exotic-skins industry, Salt Lake City-based online discount retailer Overstock.com announced that it will no longer sell products made from exotic skins. According to company officials, "[Overstock.com, Inc.] has removed all exotic animal skins products from its website, including but not limited to: snake, alligator, crocodile, lizard, ostrich, stingray, eel, shark or kangaroo and will no longer sell such products." Click here to watch PETA's new undercover video exposing the horrific abuse suffered by exotic animals who are killed for their skins.

"I do not believe that animals should be treated as decorative objects," says Overstock.com Chair and CEO Patrick Byrne.

Although most of the leather sold in the U.S. comes from cows, other species--including snakes, lizards, alligators, and crocodiles--are hunted or raised and killed specifically for their skins. The following are just some of the atrocities that are shown in PETA's new video:

*  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 of the animals remain alive. One of the alligators is seen writhing in pain.

Overstock.com, Inc., markets clothes, housewares, music, books, brand-name sporting goods, electronics, and many other products in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. The company's 2008 sales exceeded $834 million.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.