Activists Descend On Pageant Winner's Send-Off Reception
For Immediate Release:
December 2, 2011
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Hagerstown, Md. -- Holding signs that read, "Fur Is Worn by Beautiful Animals and Ugly People," and equipped with bullhorns, PETA members will meet Miss Maryland winner Carlie Colella—who has been spotted wearing the fox-fur coat she received as a prize—at the Maryland Theater on Sunday as she celebrates her journey to the Miss America pageant. PETA wrote to Colella in July to explain that animals killed for their fur are beaten, electrocuted, and even skinned alive and to ask her to donate the coat to PETA's program that distributes donated furs to homeless people to help them stay warm in the winter—but so far, she has remained unresponsive.
When: Sunday, December 4, 1 p.m.
Where: The Maryland Theater, 21 S. Potomac St. (between E. Washington and Antietam streets), Hagerstown
"Real beauty comes from compassion and kindness—not disregard for others' suffering," says PETA director and Hagerstown native Colleen O'Brien. "If Miss Maryland truly wants to set an example for young women, she'll do the right thing and swear off fur for good."
The Miss Florida competition recently announced that it would no longer award fur coats as prizes, and many top fashion designers and retailers—including Calvin Klein, Stella McCartney, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, J.Crew, and Forever 21—are 100 percent fur-free.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.