Are There Any Skeletons in Your Closet?

What’s the secret
to having a winning style? In an essay that was published this week in The Fresno Bee, PETA Foundation staffer Paula
Moore says that it’s putting compassion into your fashion. And that means
shedding the skin that came off animals’ backs—including fur, leather, and even wool.

Even if you
know nothing else about animal rights, you surely know that from the day they
are born until the day they are killed, animals on fur farms live lives of quiet misery,”
she writes. “The small barren cages that they are confined to reek of
urine and feces. Disease and injuries are common. Many animals go insane under
these conditions and throw themselves repeatedly against the cage bars or pace
in endless circles.

“Once you’ve
given up the furry ghosts in your closet, it’s time to dump exotic skins,” Paula continues. “Snakes
are commonly nailed to trees … and they are skinned
alive, in the belief
that live flaying keeps the skins supple. Alligators are crudely bludgeoned
with hammers or aluminum bats.”

Much of the leather
sold in the U.S. comes from India, where PETA investigations “have
revealed that cows are marched hundreds of miles to slaughter through extreme
heat,” Paula writes. “Handlers smear chili seeds into cows’ eyes and
break their tails in order to force the exhausted animals to keep walking. … At
the slaughterhouse, they are hacked to pieces in front of each other while
still conscious.”

In Australia, where
most of the merino wool sold in the U.S. comes from, lambs are subjected to a
barbaric mutilation called “mulesing“ in a misguided attempt to
prevent maggot infestations. The farmers “use instruments resembling
gardening shears to cut huge chunks of flesh from lambs’ backsides,” Paula
writes. “The lambs often walk sideways like crabs from the pain of their
wounds, which can take weeks to heal.”

But the good news
is that there are plenty of animal-friendly fabrics available. As Paula points
out, “Even many high-end designers now embrace synthetics, thanks to
technological advances that, as Forbes
put it, ‘have made faux fur and animal skin practically indistinguishable from
the real thing.’ When you’re shopping, just check the labels and stick to faux
fur, fake snake, vegan ‘leather’ like polyurethane and other animal-friendly
materials.”

To read the essay
in its entirety, visit FresnoBee.com.