Team PETA at the Sochi Winter Olympics: Champions Don’t Wear Fur!

The 2014 Winter Olympic Games are almost upon us, and while the eyes of the world are on the Russian city Sochi, we’ve seized the opportunity to highlight one of the cruellest industries on the planet – the barbaric fur trade.

Two sexy PETA “snow bunnies” braved the cold climate (and Russian authorities’ notoriously frosty attitude towards protestors) to let people know that wearing the skins of animals who were beaten, electrocuted or strangled to death is unacceptable. The police confiscated the volunteers’ signs and passports, and ordered them to leave the Olympic Park area – but not before they got across the message that the skin of foxes, sheep, dogs and rabbits belongs to the animals!

Fur is a key animal rights issue in Russia. Unlike in the UK, where the vast majority of people would never touch a gruesome dead-animal-skin coat, many Russians are simply unaware of how unethical real fur is. In 2013, PETA launched a groundbreaking anti-fur ad campaign in Moscow – but of course, there is much work still to be done in the country that buys more fur than any other in the world.

As Hope, one of the “bunnies”, explains, “The Olympics are a celebration of life and strength, but animals used for fur know only pain and death“. Even in sub-zero temperatures, there is no need (or excuse) these days for wearing animal skins. Modern fabrics, such as microfibers, polar fleece and faux fur, can keep you cosy and looking good, without inflicting painful and terrifying deaths on animals.

If you haven’t already, please become a champion for fur-bearing animals by pledging never to wear their skins.

You can also take action against fur here in the UK by asking Harvey Nichols to stop selling real fur items:

Mink Image: Jo-Anne McArthur / WeAnimals.org