PETA US Protesters in Heels and Hazmat Suits Call On Hermès to Ban Exotic Skins
“Prevent Pandemics: Ban Exotic Skins”. That’s the message PETA US supporters in stilettos, hazmat suits, and gas masks sent at Hermès’ Madison Avenue boutique in New York – all while carrying protest signs shaped like Kelly bags.
The protest follows the brand’s decision to dig in its heels at its annual meeting by refusing to answer a question from PETA US about an exotic-skins ban. PETA US – a Hermès shareholder – tried to confront executives over plans to build what would be Australia’s largest crocodile factory farm.
Today’s socially conscious customers know what they want – and it isn’t the skin of a tortured animal.
Will the Next Pandemic Come From Our Wardrobes?
Keeping wild animals captive in unsanitary conditions gave rise to COVID-19 and poses a significant risk of future pandemics.
Many alligators and crocodiles who are raised on farms for their skin are kept crowded together in highly unhygienic conditions, one on top of the other in pits of putrid water. This creates a major breeding ground for many zoonotic pathogens – causative agents of diseases that can spread from other animals to humans – including salmonella, vibrio, Aeromonas spp, Pseudomonas spp, E coli, trichinella, and West Nile virus – all of which crocodilians have been found to carry and can pass on to humans.
Animals Are Not Handbags
Past PETA exposés have revealed that alligators and crocodiles at Hermès supplier farms are confined to dank pools and crowded concrete pits.
Harrowing footage of the exotic animals killed for “luxury” accessories showed workers cutting into their spines while they were still alive and peeling off their skin. This killing method has been shown to be inhumane, and experts have found that crocodilians remain conscious for over an hour after their spinal cord has been severed and their blood vessels cut.
What You Can Do
PETA is urging Hermès to follow in the footsteps of the many designers who embrace innovative, fashion-forward materials – because animals don’t need to be killed for a killer look. Will you join us?
