‘Fur-geddaboutit!’ New Yorkers Invited to Bring Out Their Dead for PETA’s Winter Fur Donation Drive
For Immediate Release:
January 7, 2026
Contact:
Alex Payne 202-483-7382
On Friday, a group of bell-ringing PETA supporters will gather beside a coffin emblazoned with the message “Fur Is Dead,” and collect unwanted fur coats from those who would no longer be caught dead in the ugly stuff after learning how animals suffer in the cruel fur industry. And to invite repentant fur owners to start the new year on a clean slate with a tax-deductible fur donation, PETA has just erected a massive appeal at 7th Avenue and 53rd Street, marking the donation location.
PETA’s fur donation program sends the items to homeless and women’s shelters, to wildlife sanctuaries to be used as bedding for orphaned animals, or overseas to refugee children in cold climates. PETA has donated thousands of fur coats to refugees and displaced people all over the world, including Jordan and Ukraine in recent years.
Where: At the intersection of 7th Avenue & 53rd Street, Manhattan (Near the HOPE sculpture)
When: Friday, January 9, 12 noon
“We can’t undo the horrific deaths these animals endured, but we can ensure that unwanted furs go toward protecting those in desperate need, who are the only humans with any excuse to wear it,” says PETA Vice President Danielle Katz. “PETA encourages everyone to start the new year right by purging cruelty from their closet and helping those who truly need our support.”
Minks purr when they’re happy, and foxes are devoted parents who will share the responsibility of raising their pups. Most animals raised and killed for fur are confined for their entire lives to filthy, cramped wire cages, where they frantically pace back and forth, gnaw on the bars, and mutilate themselves out of extreme stress and frustration before they’re electrocuted, bludgeoned, gassed, or even skinned alive. Wild animals caught in traps often suffer for days before trappers arrive to shoot, strangle, beat, or stomp them to death.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
