For Immediate Release:
August 3, 2011
Contact:
Adam Miller 202-483-7382
New York -- Wearing cow costumes and holding signs that read, "Hands off My Hide!" and "Leather Rips Off Cows!" eight PETA members will arrive on a flatbed truck and converge on the Fashion Footwear Association of New York on Tuesday. Their point? That shoes and other items made of leather cost cows the skin off their backs and that there are many stylish nonleather shoes—from trainers to wingtips to spiked heels—to choose from.
When: Thursday, August 4, 12 noon
Where: 1335 Avenue of the Americas (outside the Hilton at Sixth Avenue & W. 54th Street), New York City
Every year, most of the millions of cows slaughtered for the leather industry endure castration, tail-docking, and dehorning—all without being given any painkillers. Leather is also bad for the environment: In order to preserve the skins, companies use toxic chemicals that can end up in nearby soil and water supplies.
"Leather is murder on the environment, human health, and especially cows," says PETA's associate director of campaigns, Lindsay Rajt. "With so many fashionable nonleather shoes available, the practice of mutilating cows on factory farms and skinning them alive in slaughterhouses doesn't have a leg to stand on."
For more information, please visit PETA.org.