Naked and Bodypainted Joss Stone Speaks Up for Crocodiles Killed for Bags

Soul Singer Stars in New PETA Ad After Exposé Reveals How Live Animals Are Sawed Open on Hermès Supplier’s Farm

For Immediate Release:
November 17, 2015

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

It’s a side of Joss Stone you’ve never seen before: The singer appears as a crocodile in a stark new PETA ad that states, “3 Animals Are Killed to Make 1 Crocodile Bag. Say NO to Exotic Skins.” The ad, available here, comes in the wake of a PETA exposé that revealed that reptiles were imprisoned in barren and severely crowded pits on farms that supply crocodile and alligator skins to Hermès-owned tanneries, which are then used to make “luxury” handbags. Workers shot alligators in the head, some multiple times, with a captive-bolt gun and sawed open the back of their necks with a box cutter to sever their blood vessels. Some of them were still moving minutes after the crude attempt to slaughter them.

“Although I’m not as familiar with crocodiles as I am with dogs and horses, I know that all animals are capable of suffering,” says Stone. “I hope when people see footage of what happens to crocodiles and alligators killed for their skin to be turned into handbags, they’ll join me in leaving wildlife out of their wardrobes.”

As revealed by PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—snakes, alligators, and other exotic animals who are killed for their skins are commonly nailed to trees, bludgeoned with hammers, and skinned alive.

Stone is part of a long list of musicians, artists, and other celebrities—including Paul McCartney, Morrissey, P!nk, and Kesha—who have teamed up with PETA to promote animal protection.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.