Wearing a gruesome twist on Björk’s iconic swan dress, a ‘bleeding’ topless model draped with an ostrich ‘corpse’ and carrying a handbag-shaped sign led a PETA protest against the use of exotic skins for fashion accessories in front of Hermès’ boutique in Dublin last week.
The action came on the heels of PETA’s release of the first-ever exposé of the highly secretive industrial ostrich-slaughter industry, where young ostriches are kept in barren dirt feedlots until they are trucked to abattoirs.
The one-year-old birds are then turned upside down in a stunner before having their throats slit and their feathers plucked out – creating the bumpy-textured or ‘goose bump’ skin used in Birkin and Prada bags and other ‘luxury’ goods.
‘Anyone who buys a bumpy Birkin bag or pockmarked Prada purse is responsible for the shocking, slaughtering, plucking and skinning of a smart, sensitive and curious young ostrich.
‘With so many high-end and stylish cruelty-free accessories available, PETA is calling on shoppers to bag the animal skins and shop vegan.’
ELISA ALLEN
PETA Associate Director
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that ‘animals are not ours to wear’ – is calling on Hermès, Prada and all other retailers to drop ostrich and other exotic skins.
Click here to read PETA’s full exposé of the industrial ostrich-slaughter industry.
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