Giant ‘Ostrich’ Will Protest in Front of Prada Store

PETA Will Reveal How Birds Are Hit, Shocked, Killed, Plucked, and Skinned for Store’s Ostrich-Leather Bags and Couches

For Immediate Release:
May 16, 2016

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382

This ostrich wants his skin back. PETA’s life-size “ostrich” will stand guard outside Prada’s Rodeo Drive store on Tuesday with a sign proclaiming, “Heads in Sand? Ostriches Slaughtered for Bags,” as two PETA members kneel on the ground with their heads “buried” in a sandbox.

When:             Tuesday, May 17, 12 noon

Where:           Prada, 343 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—recently released the first-ever exposé of the highly secretive ostrich-slaughter industry, in which young ostriches are kept in barren dirt feedlots until they are trucked to slaughterhouses. There, workers turn the 1-year-old birds upside down in a stunner, eject them to slit their throats, and pluck their feathers out, creating the bumpy-textured skin used in Prada’s handbags and store sofas.

“Every ostrich-leather bag and sofa in Prada’s stores came from smart, sensitive, and curious young birds who were shocked, slaughtered, plucked, and skinned,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is calling on shoppers to steer clear of Prada’s pockmarked purses and instead choose from the many stylish cruelty-free accessories available from kinder retailers.”

Broadcast-quality video footage from PETA’s investigation is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA.org.