Natalie Imbruglia Denounces Fur-Wearers In Troubling New Video

For Immediate Release:
15 September 2010

Contact:
Alice Barnett 020 7537 9229, ext 229; [email protected]

London – Today, in advance of London Fashion Week (17 September through 21 September), PETA is releasing a graphic new video narrated by singer Natalie Imbruglia that puts furry designers and fur-bent shoppers in their rightful place – at the bottom of the heap.

“There is no kind way to rip the skin off animals’ backs”, says Imbruglia, a recent guest judge on The X Factor with fellow PETA supporter and fur foe Simon Cowell. “Anyone who wears any fur shares the blame for the torture and gruesome deaths of millions of animals each year.”

Although fur farming is outlawed in the UK, it is still legal to import pelts. In China, the world’s leading fur exporter, animals on fur farms are commonly skinned alive, as shown in video footage on PETA.org.uk. Millions of dogs and cats are also killed in China for the international fur trade. Fur from China is often processed and relabelled in other countries, making it impossible to tell where – or which species – the fur came from. European fur farms are no better; animals on European farms are kept in filthy, cramped cages before they are killed by gassing, electrocution or neck-breaking.

“Saving animals is as simple as choosing synthetic alternatives instead of real fur”, says Imbruglia.

More than 90 per cent of Britons as well as many of the world’s most stylish celebrities – including Eva Mendes, Kate Winslet, Kelly Osbourne, Charlize Theron and Natalie Portman – shun fur.

Many of the world’s most exclusive fashion designers – including Vivienne Westwood, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Stella McCartney – leave fur out of their designs. And countless retailers, from popular high street shops such as Topshop and Monsoon to luxury department stores such as Harvey Nichols, House of Fraser and Selfridges, have no-fur policies.

A copy of the broadcast-quality video is available here. For more information on the fur industry, please visit PETA.org.uk