Why Did PETA Supporters Protest at Cambridge’s New Urban Outfitters Store?
PETA activists protested at Cambridge’s new Urban Outfitters store on its opening day.
We’re urging Urban Outfitters Inc – which owns Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, and Free People – to drop alpaca fleece, wool, leather, cashmere, mohair, down, and silk. These “materials” are products of extreme violence, cruelty, and fear.
Protesters and photogenic “animals” – including a sheep, a cow, a goat, and an alpaca – stood outside the store playing audio of animals being abused for the fashion industry. Watch our exposé videos yourself to hear their screams and see where these clothes come from.
Urban Outfitters Inc has so far banned fur, exotic skins, and angora – and in April, PETA US became a shareholder in the company in order to push it to adopt additional animal-friendly policies.
Are All Animal-Derived Materials Cruel?
Any material that’s taken from its animal owner is a product of fear and trauma.
PETA and our affiliates have released dozens of videos revealing that workers hit, kick, and mutilate sheep for their wool and alpacas for their fleece during shearing; leave goats with bloody, gaping wounds at mohair and cashmere operations; burn, electroshock, beat, and slaughter cows to make leather; yank out geese’s feathers by the fistful for down; and boil silkworms alive to produce silk.
What You Can Do
Urban Outfitters brands want to reach progressive young people with their designs – but selling the skin, hair, and feathers of tormented animals will get them nowhere. We’re calling on Urban Outfitters to be true to its commitment to sustainability and ethical standards by selling only animal-friendly vegan fabrics, which it already stocks. Will you join us?
