Sexy PETA Duo Bare All For Bovines

Scottish Beauties Bare Their Skin to Save Cows’ Backsides

For Immediate Release:
17 September 2004

Contact:
Stefano Apuzzo:  +39 348 094 3207
Yvonne Taylor:   +44 (0)20 7357 9229 ext 405
Dawn Carr:         +44 (0)207 357 9229 ext 224

Milan – Wearing little more than a banner reading, “We’d Rather Bare Skin than Wear Skin”, two Scottish PETA members, Yvonne Taylor and Julianne McCheyne, will protest the MIPEL leather trade show in Milan by “exposing” shoppers to the truth about how cows suffer in the making of leather coats, trousers and shoes:

Date:  Monday, 20 September
Time:  12 noon sharp
Place: Saint Babila Square

Why does PETA want stylish shoppers to give leather the boot? Buying real leather shoes, jackets, trousers and accessories not only supports the suffering of animals in slaughterhouses, but also devastates the environment and can harm human health.

Millions of cows, pigs, sheep and goats who are slaughtered for their skins are castrated, branded and dehorned and have their tails cut off – all without painkillers. Production-line speed-ups and inadequate stunning measures at abattoirs mean that cows killed for their skins and flesh often have their throats slit while they are still conscious. In India, where leather sold in Italy often originates, animals are often transported in severely overcrowded conditions and become mangled or die en route. Indian cattle marched on foot to slaughter are driven on by having chilli peppers and tobacco rubbed into their eyes or the bones in their tails broken. The skins of dogs killed for meat in Korea, China and the Philippines are often marked “cow hide” before they are exported to the West.

The scantily-clad protesters plan to show consumers that real beauty is far more than skin deep. “With today’s fake snake, mock croc and pleather faux skins, it’s easy to have a look that kills without actually killing”, says Ms Taylor, who will be participating in a similar protest in Madrid outside Spain’s international leather fair next week. 

This isn’t the first time Taylor and McCheyne have stripped for a cause. McCheyne reeled in passers-by when she dressed as a topless mermaid to protest the fishing industry at “The Festival of the Sea” in Scotland. Taylor was kicked out of China after participating in a “rather go naked than wear fur” protest in Beijing. She has also travelled to India and Paris to protest cruelty to animals killed for their skins.

Broadcast-quality footage of animals being killed for their skins will be available on site.

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