Protesters to Descend on Home of American Museum of Natural History President

PETA Will Call on Ellen V. Futter to End the Museum’s Display of Wild Animals and Stop Promoting the Cruel Exotic-Skins Industry

For Immediate Release:
December 2, 2016

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382

What:    American Museum of Natural History President Ellen V. Futter and her neighbors will get a wake-up call on Saturday, courtesy of PETA. While playing video footage of the crocodile-skin trade—which PETA has previously shared with Futter and other museum officials—protesters will gather outside her Upper East Side apartment and demand that she end the museum’s “Crocs: Ancient Predators in a Modern World” exhibit, which displays sensitive reptiles in glass boxes and encourages visitors to buy their skins.

When:    Saturday, December 3, 10 a.m.

Where:    79 E. 79^th St. (between Madison and Park avenues), New York

“Futter knows that tiny tanks and crocodile-skin bags mean immense suffering for sensitive exotic animals, yet she has allowed this despicable exhibit to continue,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is calling on her to do the right thing by ending the museum’s display and stopping its promotion of the cruel exotic-skins trade.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way”—met with museum officials to point out that crocodiles, alligators, and other wild animals are denied everything that’s natural and important to them in captivity and that a PETA video exposé has revealed that crocodiles are kept in barren pits for years before being crudely slaughtered for “luxury” Hermès bags and other fashion accessories.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.