WARNING: This content is NSFW and is graphic.
As one skims over the products on Luis Vuitton’s website, they will eventually come across a selection of expensive crocodile skin bags. When this author says expensive, they are referring to a clutch which costs close to $12,000, and a radically pink capucines for $35,000. For some, sporting the brand is worth the price. But is the horror crocodiles endure as their skin is peeled from their bodies worth the suffering? In the graphic video below, the cruel reality of the fashion industry which relies on the skins and fur of animals is revealed.
First, anxious and vigorously shaking crocodiles are given an electric shock which is meant to stun them. Their necks are then cut open and metal rods are shoved down their spines while they’re still alive.
As the crocodiles bleed out, they are then skinned as they wriggle in agony. Reportedly, this process takes 15-20 minutes.
Consultant biologist Clifford Warwick suggests that it takes an hour after the animal’s spinal cord is cut before it loses consciousness. He told the Animal rights activist organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA):
“The neck incisions would have been very painful and inhumane. There is no probability that these animals died instantly”.
Reportedly, that this method is commonly used in Vietnam where most crocodile skins are sourced. The skins are used to make “luxury” leather bags, belts, and even watch straps.
An undercover reporter captured footage of crocodiles lying motionless in tiny concrete cells, some narrower than their bodies. Others were packed into tight spaces with other crocodiles.
The video below was taken over two years ago but is relevant nonetheless.
https://www.facebook.com/official.peta/videos/10154885036849586/
To this day, approximately 30,000 crocodile skins are harvested every year. Some activists, such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Victoria Beckham and Ashton Kutcher, have spoken out about the harvesting of skin from crocodiles, but it’s up to activists like YOU to raise awareness about this conundrum and boycott companies that utilize animal skin and fur in their products.
Pleads PETA President Ingrid Newkirk,
“Whether it’s Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Prada or any other brand, a crocodile skin bag means a living, feeling being experienced a miserable life and a ghastly death. PETA is calling on everyone not to buy exotic skins to prevent reptiles from being imprisoned, mutilated and skinned alive.”
Scroll to the bottom of THIS page to sign a petition that calls for an end to this cruel practice. Please share this news and comment your thoughts below.
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