PETA Activists Challenge Hermes' Use of Animal Skins as Investigative Footage Shows Shocking Abuse of Reptiles

For Immediate Release:

19 October 2011

Taipei -- With their naked bodies painted to look like snakeskin and holding signs that read, "Hermes: Animals Suffer for Exotic Skins", two People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Asia activists will lead a protest on Thursday outside Bellavita. PETA wants tourists and shoppers to know that exotic animals are skinned alive, beaten to death or killed for their skins in other cruel ways.

When:            Thursday, 20 October, 12 noon sharp

Where:          Hermes Bellavita entrance (Taipei City Hall Station Exit 3) on SongGao road, just past the intersection of SongRen Road across the street from Shin Kong Mitsukoshi

International fashion trendsetters, including Victoria's Secret and H&M, have already agreed to stop selling products made from exotic-animal skins. Now PETA is calling on companies such as Hermes to end the sale of exotic-animal skins too.

"I'll gladly bare some of my skin if it will help save animals' skin", says PETA spokesperson Michelle Chiang. "Each year, millions of animals endure unspeakable cruelty -- all so that the fashion industry can make purses, belts and shoes. By dropping exotic-animal skins from their collections, companies like Victoria's Secret and H&M have sent the message that cruelty to animals is never fashionable. Now we're asking Hermes to shun exotic-animal skins as well."

PETA's undercover investigation of the exotic-skins trade in Indonesia revealed shocking cruelty, including the skinning of reptiles while they were still alive. Each year, millions of animals, such as snakes and lizards, are poached, netted and killed in Indonesia so that their skins can be made into boots, belts, handbags and other fashion items. PETA's video footage shows lizards who gasp for breath after their necks are cut and animals whose heads are nearly detached from their bodies as blood pours from their throats. Workers shove skewers up snakes' noses in order to immobilise them. To separate the animals' skins from their organs, workers pump them full of water while they are still conscious and then tear the skins off the living animals' bodies.

Broadcast-quality video footage of exotic animals killed for their skins is available at http://petaav.com/4broadcast/indonesia_exotic_skins_investigation_NTSC.htm.

For more information, please visit PETAAsiaPacific.com.

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