New Video: Pythons Skinned Alive for Snakeskin Accessories

Posted by on January 28, 2025 | Permalink

PETA Asia’s harrowing new footage from Indonesia reveals the horrific cruelty behind the wild-animal skins trade. Snakes are beaten, beheaded, impaled, and even inflated – many still fully conscious as their skin is torn from their bodies. These are standard practices in the python skin industry.

Snakes are shy, intelligent animals who have been around for over 160 million years. They smell with their tongue and can even tell which direction a scent is coming from. And they feel pain just as humans do. Yet the fashion industry cruelly exploits these sensitive beings – stealing their skin for bags, shoes, and other accessories.

As documented in the video, some struggle helplessly as their skin is torn off, and many pythons are even skinned alive.

Year of the Snake

The Year of the Snake begins on 29 January. Let’s also make 2025 a year for the snake.

During the busiest shopping period before Chinese New Year, PETA Asia supporters gathered outside Gucci’s flagship stores with signs declaring, “Gucci: Killing Snakes Brings Bad Luck.” The actions are part of PETA’s campaign urging Gucci to stop selling accessories made from the skins of tormented pythons and for consumers to keep reptile skins off their shopping lists during Chinese New Year and beyond.

Meanwhile in London, PETA supporters, one dressed as a snake and another as a python farm worker, reenacted the slaughter of pythons used for their skins outside London’s New Bond Street Gucci store:

PETA Asia’s investigations have revealed that workers at two python farms that supply skins to a tannery operated by Kering – the owner of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent – pinned struggling pythons down by the neck before bashing them over the head with a hammer and impaling them on hooks while they were still moving.

Snakes Need You Help

Don’t support their misery. Never buy or wear accessories made from any animals’ skin.

Join us in calling on Gucci to stop peddling pythons’ body parts and for shoppers to honour the Year of the Snake by leaving reptiles in peace.