Appeal to Ivanka Trump Over Fur Pompoms Prompted by New Video of Chinese Rabbit Slaughter

Designer Is Asked to Stop Wearing and Working With Fur Immediately, After Investigation Reveals That Rabbits Are Hit, Skinned Alive

For Immediate Release:
February 17, 2016

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Ivanka Trump is selling hats with pompoms made of fur from rabbits killed in China, but a daring new PETA Asia investigation deep inside the rabbit-fur industry in China—the world’s largest fur exporter—now reveals that slaughterhouse workers leave panic-stricken rabbits to struggle and thrash wildly after hitting them on the head with the back of a knife, hanging them upside-down, and slitting their throats. Almost all the rabbits still kick and twitch as their throats are slit, and some are even shown being skinned alive.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—has sent Trump a letter calling on her to stop wearing and working with real fur. She already offers many faux-fur items and can easily make the switch.

“Terrified rabbits are often hit, hung up, and skinned alive for frivolous accessories like Ivanka Trump’s rabbit-fur pompom hats,” says PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange. “PETA is calling on shoppers to give all animal fur and the designers who still cling to it a wide berth.”

PETA Asia’s video also reveals that rabbits lived in filthy, urine-encrusted cages with piles of feces accumulated beneath them. The cages had wire bottoms, which are extremely painful to rabbits’ sensitive feet. On one farm, each cage contained a mug of drinking water, but many of them were tipped over, and the rabbits were trying desperately to drink from their empty mugs. One rabbit suffered from a skin condition that caused hair loss, and at least two others were unable to stand up. There are no penalties for abusing animals on fur farms in China.

Many top designers and retailers—including Calvin Klein, Stella McCartney, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Vivienne Westwood, and dozens of others—are 100 percent fur-free.

Broadcast-quality video footage are available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA.org.