Behind Indonesia’s Exotic-Skins Trade

Every year in the exotic-skins industry, millions of snakes, lizards, crocodiles, and other animals are grotesquely abused and cruelly killed. Welfare is never a consideration for those who hunt, poach, farm, abuse, and kill these animals to turn them into bags, shoes, belts, gloves, and other accessories.

PETA went undercover to document Indonesia’s thriving exotic-skins industry. What we found was shocking and gut-wrenching. Stolen from their jungle homes, snakes are decapitated or skinned alive. Video footage shows skinless, headless snakes writhing and twitching in a pile. Because of their slow metabolism, many suffer for hours or even days until they finally die. Others slowly suffocate to death. Lizards slowly have their throats cut; afterward, many continue to struggle to breathe. Farmed crocodiles are kept in filthy, crowded tanks and then beaten to death. Like other reptiles, they’re often skinned alive.

Wearing exotic skins is cold-blooded, cruel, and dead wrong—period. Being heartbroken is never, ever enough. This suffering won’t stop until consumers like you make it stop. Please help put this cruel industry out of its misery by boycotting all designers and retailers who profit from exotic skins, spreading the word to your family and friends, and taking a pledge today that you will never wear exotic skins again from this day forward.

Pythons, lizards, and crocodiles are depending on you to forward our investigation video and pledge to everyone you know!