The Controversial PETA Campaign
Joanna explains the rationale behind her kooky shoot.
This is my third PETA campaign, and I wanted to make sure it showed a more comedic side to a very strong message. But I also wanted to make sure it was still controversial like my last campaign, because without controversy you don't get the same impact in getting your message heard.
As a human being, it kills me to even think I need to be a voice for these defenseless animals, because I could never support anything that tortures animals. It’s sad that I even have to be part of this to try to get people to realize that buying fur is murder. These animals get skinned alive in fur farms where often they get beaten alive, drowned, and are kept in tiny cages where they die after going crazy from being confined their whole life in small spaces. I love PETA because they do the hard work and go undercover and launch videos of the horrific abuse that happens to animals around the world, from fur farms to laboratories that test on animals for cosmetics. Everyone should go and see these videos and open their hearts to how much these poor animals suffer. There is no reason for these kinds of barbaric murders: www.peta.org or www.furisdead.com.
Someone that wears a fur coat in 2012 is a person that needs to prove that they have status, because they are insecure and think wearing a fur coat makes them stand out. But in reality it makes them look arrogant, because we are not living in the Stone Age anymore. I will fight until the day I die to be a voice for these amazing creatures.
The reason I decided to do a protest against the Kardashian store was because Khloe Kardashian did an anti-fur campaign years ago, and I found out they were selling fur at Dash. To me, someone like that is a hypocrite and I wanted to make sure they were exposed. Even during and after the protest, they made a statement they never sold fur. Well here is the proof.
Since then I am happy to say Dash in Calabasas closed and they reopened in West Hollywood, which is now fur free. To make it clear, I have nothing against the Kardashians, but I will always speak my mind when it comes to protecting animals. It’s not a direct attack against them. I am very passionate about helping the voiceless and defenseless and will never give that up. I will always fight to try to open people’s eyes to the cruelties out there and hope to change one person at a time. If someone can watch the fur videos of these animals get skinned alive and still purchase a fur coat, then to me they are not humans. I believe karma will get each and every one of them for hurting God’s creatures. I am against any type of cruelty to animals. Amen!
Quotes from Gandhi:
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated.
I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man.
I feel that spiritual progress does demand at some stage that we should cease to kill our fellow creatures for the satisfaction of our bodily wants.
I do not regard flesh-food as necessary for us at any stage and under any clime in which it is possible for human beings ordinarily to live. I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species.
Here are some facts about animal cruelty that I want to share with all of you. Basic Cruelty Facts
Wearing fur supports such severe cruelty to animals that everyone involved would be jailed on felony cruelty-to-animals charges if dogs or cats in the United States were abused as hideously as animals that are typically killed for their fur.
Most people realize that it is no more acceptable to skin minks or foxes alive and wear their fur than it would be to skin dogs or cats alive for their fur.
A huge percentage of fur is imported from China, where dog and cat fur is often mislabeled as fur from other species. So that fur collar on your coat might be dog or cat fur from China, where animals are routinely skinned alive.
An investigation into the Chinese fur trade, which people can view at FurIsDead.com, shows that Chinese fur farmers slam terrified animals, including raccoon pups, on the ground, beat animals, and skin them while they’re still conscious. Much of this fur is sold in the U.S. and Europe.
Every year, millions of animals are drowned, beaten to death, strangled, gassed, electrocuted, and even skinned alive in order to produce fur coats, collars, and cuffs.
Fur farmers confine animals to filthy wire cages, often without giving them access to basic necessities like clean water. If animals in cages die, their terrified and often-starving cagemates may eat their bodies in a desperate attempt to stay alive.
Animals on fur farms are suffocated, poisoned, gassed, and anally or vaginally electrocuted. They writhe in excruciating pain before dying. Many often “wake up” while their skin is being ripped off their bodies. Video footage at FurIsDead.com shows a completely skinned fox that is still alive and blinking at the camera.
Animals trapped in the wild may suffer for days in steel-jaw traps. Mothers desperate to return to their young will often chew or twist off their own legs in order to free themselves. Those who can’t get free suffer for days without any food or water before trappers return and strangle, stomp, or bludgeon them to death.
No federal laws protect animals on fur farms.Alternatives to Fur
Animals are simply not ours to wear.
In the 21st century, people can choose to be cruel or kind. With so many fashionable, comfortable, and warm options available today, there is no excuse for wearing bits and pieces of any animal’s fur or skin.
There’s a reason why people don’t climb mountains or go skiing in fur coats. The synthetics available today are much lighter, and they’re far more durable and practical.
Fashion and the State of the Fur Industry
Fur has fallen out of favor. Top designers like Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, and Stella McCartney and retailers like J.Crew and Forever 21 now refuse to use or sell any fur products.
Since most people are smart enough to know that animals killed for their fur are horribly abused, the fur industry often has to pay celebrities to wear its products in commercials and music videos. Desperate designers also resort to dying fur trim colors like pink and purple in order to trick people into thinking that it’s fake.
Heartless designers like Michael Kors and Donatella Versace -- who continue to use abused animals in their so-called designs -- are a dying breed. Young consumers are the future and are largely opposed to the cruelty of fur. A recent survey in Elle Girl revealed that teens think that animal rights is the “coolest” political cause.
Reports from the fur industry show sluggish sales, which result in huge surplus stocks after the fall and winter as a result of a constantly decreasing demand.According to a recent Gallup poll, 96 percent of Americans oppose cruelty to animals, and it shows in Americans’ decision to shun fur.
If fur is becoming more prevalent, it’s because the market is being flooded by cheap imports from China, now that their industry is booming and trade restrictions had been lifted.
The fur trade is a violent, bloody industry. Trapping, beating, drowning, and ripping animals' skins from their backs simply for vanity is absolutely indefensible.
There is no beauty in animal cruelty.
Fur is only worn by a very visible cult of pretentious fashion editors, but for the general public, fur remains about as popular as a cold sore.
Fur Farm Case
There is video footage documenting cruel industry practices captured on fur farms all over the United States. What they’ve found, across the board, is that animals raised for their fur are kept in tiny, filthy cages for months or even years before they are killed, where they often go insane from deprivation. Many of the animals are electrocuted by inserting a rod into the rectum and with the flip of a switch, 240 volts literally burn the insides of the animals. The animal convulses, shakes, and often cries before dying of heart attack.
Environmental Concerns
It takes more than 15 times the energy to produce a farmed-fur coat than a synthetic-fur coat, and the chemicals used to prevent animals’ flesh from rotting after it is turned into a coat or trim are highly toxic and carcinogenic.
The fixatives and other chemicals used to treat animal skins are highly toxic and carcinogenic.
