PETA Supporters Appear as Grim Reapers to Protest Fur Trade at Milan Fashion Week
On the opening day of Milan Fashion Week, three black-robed PETA “Grim Reapers” dragged donated fur coats across the Piazza del Duomo in the city centre while brandishing “scythes” bearing the words “Fur Is Dead”.
The bone-chilling spectacle came after Italian actor and TV presenter Elisabetta Canalis sent a letter on PETA’s behalf calling on the National Chamber for Italian Fashion to ban animal fur from the event.
What’s Wrong With Fur?
Every year, over 100 million animals are killed for their fur. On fur farms, animals are confined to cramped wire cages, denied the opportunity to do anything that’s natural or important to them, and killed by electrocution, neck-breaking, or drowning.
In addition to being torture for animals, fur farming wreaks havoc on the planet by contributing to climate change, land devastation, pollution, and water contamination.
Animals are also caught in their natural habitat in steel-jaw traps and left to languish – sometimes for days – before succumbing to dehydration, starvation, disease, or attacks by predators or being bludgeoned to death by returning trappers.
Fashion Is Moving Forward
It’s clear that fur is headed for the history books, as the majority of today’s fashion designers – including Jean Paul Gaultier, Gucci, Armani, Versace, Ralph Lauren, Vivienne Westwood, and Stella McCartney – have policies against using it in their collections.
Other high-end fashion events, including Oslo Fashion Week and Melbourne Fashion Week, have banned fur from their catwalks, while faux-fur manufacturer Ecopel has announced plans to produce a new faux fur made from recycled plastic bottles in order to alleviate both animal suffering and the impending plastic-pollution crisis.
Many countries – including the UK, Austria, and Serbia – have also outlawed fur farming.
What You Can Do
As the list of designers ditching fur continues to grow, it’s time for all fashion events to get with the times, stop supporting the cruel fur trade, and ensure that pelts are never again paraded on their catwalks. Please join us in urging the British Fashion Council (BFC) to ban fur at all its events, including London Fashion Week.
You can do even more to help animals used for their fur by signing five other crucial letters and petitions today.
Urge the BFC to Ban Fur
Jo-Anne McArthur | http://www.weanimals.org/
