‘Snow Bunnies’ at the Sochi Winter Olympics: Champions Don’t Wear Fur!
The 2014 Winter Olympic Games are here, and while the eyes of the world are on the Russian city of Sochi, PETA U.K. seized the opportunity to highlight one of the cruelest industries on the planet—the barbaric fur trade.
Two sexy “snow bunnies” braved the cold climate (and Russian authorities’ notoriously frosty attitude toward protesters) to let people know that wearing the skins of animals who were beaten, electrocuted, or strangled to death is unacceptable. The police confiscated the volunteers’ signs and passports and ordered them to leave the Olympic Park area—but not before they got the message across that the skin of foxes, sheep, dogs, and rabbits belong to the animals!
Fur is a key animal rights issue in Russia. Unlike other parts of the world, where the vast majority of people would never touch a gruesome coat made from the skins of dead animals, many Russians are simply unaware of how unethical wearing real fur is. In 2013, PETA U.K. launched a groundbreaking anti-fur ad campaign in Moscow—but of course, there is much work still to be done in the country that buys more fur than any other in the world.
As Hope, one of the “snow bunnies,” explains, “The Olympics are a celebration of life and strength, but animals used for fur know only pain and death.” Even in subzero temperatures, there is no need (or excuse) these days for wearing animals’ skins. Modern fabrics, such as microfibers, polar fleece, and faux fur, can keep you cozy and looking good, without inflicting painful and terrifying deaths on animals.
If you haven’t already, please become a champion for fur-bearing animals by pledging never to wear their skins.
Posted by Edwina Baier
