PETA to Give Away Fur Coats to the Homeless

Group Says Only the Truly Needy Have Any Excuse for Wearing Fur, Leather, Wool, or Angora

For Immediate Release:
December 13, 2013

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382

With winter temperatures quickly dropping and many Detroit residents suffering during the city’s disastrous economic crisis, PETA will join Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries and Bethlehem House to distribute 100 fur coats as well as leather jackets, wool scarves, and angora sweaters—donated by those who have moved on to garments whose production didn’t involve cruelty to animals—to some of Detroit’s neediest residents on Monday.

When:   Monday, December 16, 1 p.m.

Where:  Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, 150 Stimson St. (between Cass and Woodward avenues), Detroit

“PETA can’t bring the animals who were slaughtered to make these coats back to life, but we can send a message that only people truly struggling to survive have any excuse for wearing fur,” says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk.

For every cuff, collar, piece of trim, or coat made from real fur, animals were electrocuted, bludgeoned, strangled, or even skinned alive. Cows killed for leather are hung upside down and have their throats slit, lambs used for wool have large chunks of skin and flesh cut from their backsides in a crude attempt to prevent maggot infestation, and rabbits used for angora have their fur violently ripped from their skin. For these reasons, many people—including celebrities such as Mariah Carey, Kim Cattrall, and Sharon Osbourne—have chosen to donate their animal-skin coats to PETA for use in educational displays, to supply bedding for orphaned animals, or to be given to needy people.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.