Victoria's Secret Wins PETA Award for Shedding Exotic-Animal Skins

Lingerie Giant's Parent Company Makes Compassionate Move After Banning Fur and Cruelly Produced Australian Wool

For Immediate Release:
December 21, 2010

Contact:
Kristin Richards 757-622-7382 

Columbus, Ohio — For implementing a policy banning apparel made from the skins of exotic animals, lingerie, clothing, and accessories company Victoria's Secret—a division of Limited Brands—has won PETA's Proggy Award in the category of Progressive Retailer of the Year. PETA's Proggy Awards ("Proggy" is for "progress") are presented to people, companies, and organizations that exemplify animal-friendly progress in culture and commerce.

"Victoria's Secret's commitment to eliminating some of the worst abuses suffered by animals used for clothing places it at the leading edge of a growing trend," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "The company—known for its risqué image—knows that there's nothing sexy about skinning snakes and lizards alive in the name of fashion."

Limited Brands' website says that "Victoria's Secret ... [does] not knowingly sell real exotic animal skins, including but not limited to: snake, alligator, crocodile, lizard, ostrich, fish, kangaroo and marine mammals." PETA's undercover video footage has detailed the coldblooded cruelty of the international exotic-skins trade, so it's no longer any secret that snakes, crocodiles, lizards, kangaroos, and other animals are killed in horrific ways for their skins. Snakes are often nailed through the head to trees and skinned alive, and alligators—who are raised in dark, filthy sheds on farms—are often beaten over the head with clubs and also skinned alive.

Limited Brands already had a policy in place banning fur and Australian merino wool, most of which is obtained from lambs who are subjected to "mulesing" mutilations in which large chunks of flesh are cut from their hindquarters in a crude attempt to prevent maggot infestations. The company even provides support for the development of alternatives to animal testing.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.