PETA Investigation Shows Rabbits Bludgeoned, Chinchillas Electrocuted for Fur
PETA has repeatedly exposed horrific cruelty to animals on fur farms around the world. Now, a new PETA investigation into fur farms in Russia reveals that animals are still suffering terribly: A worker is seen beating rabbits over the head with a metal pipe and decapitating them while they’re still alive. Chinchillas scream during painful and prolonged electrocution. Terrified animals cower in wire cages with nowhere to hide and no way to escape. Their fear is palpable.
This is how fur is made. And if you wear it, this is what you’re supporting. If you see anyone else wearing it without speaking up, you’re betraying the animals who endure this.
PETA’s new investigation exposes Russian facilities where animals are bred and slaughtered for their fur. One of these massive operations had 700 cages that imprisoned 2,000 animals in just a single shed. The rampant cruelty documented by the eyewitness is the stuff of nightmares, but for the animals themselves, it is terrifyingly real.
Workers Bludgeon and Behead Rabbits While They’re Still Alive
At one facility, you can see a worker yank rabbits out of a crate by their sensitive ears before repeatedly bashing them over the head with a metal pipe in a crude attempt to stun them. He then hangs them upside down by the legs and cuts off their heads with a knife, even though some are still alive, all in full view of other frightened rabbits. At least one rabbit was so terrified that she lost control of her bladder.
A Chinchilla Screams in Agony While Being Electrocuted
At another facility, chinchillas were caged in full view of others who were being electrocuted. One screamed and struggled for over a minute during a botched electrocution. According to a worker, the clamps had been placed incorrectly, so the animal wasn’t stunned properly, which prolonged the ordeal. Afterward, a worker crudely broke the still-living chinchilla’s neck with his fingers.
Workers didn’t bother to verify that animals were unconscious before severing their heads or breaking their necks at these facilities.
Minks, Sables, and Other Animals Are Locked Up and Losing Their Minds
An eyewitness observed that animals used for breeding and awaiting slaughter were confined to cramped wire-mesh cages that were caked with feces and hair. At one facility, caged animals were left outdoors, exposed to the elements, while at another, chinchillas were kept in complete darkness in a reeking, unventilated room whenever workers weren’t present. Sables and minks paced frantically from side to side, exhibiting stereotypic behavior—a sign of captivity-induced madness.
A terrified fox, naturally shy and solitary, crouched at the back of a cage that offered no place to hide, and at another facility, one chinchilla appeared to be blind yet was still forced to breed. A worker said that the animal had sustained an eye injury but that it wasn’t important.
Help Animals Suffering in the Fur Industry
According to one worker, at least one of the facilities is a supplier to Kopenhagen Fur, which describes itself as the world’s largest fur auction house. And another fur farm supplies furs to global auction house Saga Furs. Of course, regardless of the country of origin—whether Russia, China, Canada, Finland, the U.S., or elsewhere—all fur involves horrific cruelty, fear, pain, suffering, and death.
What You Can Do to Help
Please, help animals like the ones you’ve seen in this exposé by never buying fur. Companies pay attention to consumers’ opinions and make decisions based on what people are buying. Show this video to others, too.
