‘Sheep,’ ‘Cows,’ and ‘Geese’ to Condemn Urban Outfitters

For Immediate Release:
March 24, 2022

Contact:
Brooke Rossi 202-483-7382

On Saturday, PETA supporters in sheep, cow, and goose masks will raise a ruckus outside the Urban Outfitters store on W. Second Street to demand that the company stop selling wool, leather, down, or any other materials cruelly obtained from animals:

When:    Saturday, March 26, 12 noon

Where:    320 W. Second St., Austin

It’s all part of PETA’s campaign in the country’s “best college towns and cities”—in which Austin ranked first overall—to call on students and other shoppers to embrace eco- and animal-friendly fashion and encourage Urban Outfitters to do the same. PETA has also plastered 25 local buses with the faces of a sheep, a cow, and a goose making a plea: “We Want You to Change. Wear Vegan.”

“When open-minded young people learn that sensitive animals are tormented for clothing, they’re eager to hold brands accountable and opt for ethical fashion,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “Cruelty is never in style, and PETA is pushing for Urban Outfitters to make a compassionate, environmentally positive impact by selling only vegan materials.”

Consumers’ concern for animal welfare and the environment has sent the vegan fashion market skyrocketing: Shopping platform Lyst recently reported a 178% increase in page views for vegan leather, and a survey conducted by Glamour revealed that around 73% of Gen Z consider themselves animal rights activists.

PETA notes that workers hit, kick, and mutilate gentle sheep for their wool; burn, electroshock, beat, and slaughter cows for leather; pluck geese so roughly for down that they shriek in pain and fear; and abuse animals for fashion in other ways.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview—has also protested at other Urban Outfitters brands’ stores across the country. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.