About a dozen animal rights activists gathered outside Prada’s flagship store in Vancouver this afternoon to protest the company’s treatment of ostriches.
Members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) lined up outside the store at Thurlow and Alberni, and hauled a life-size ostrich replica to the protest outside the store’s grand opening.
PETA recently released an exposé of the ostrich-slaughter industry, in which it found young ostriches are kept in barren dirt feedlots until they are trucked to slaughterhouses.
The organization says one-year-old ostriches are turned upside down in a stunner, ejected to have their throats slit and have their feathers plucked out, creating the bumpy-textured skin used in Prada’s distinctive handbags and couches.
Emily Lavender with PETA told Global News they are asking Prada to drop exotic skins completely.
“It’s the 21st century and we can choose to be cruel or kind,” says Lavender. “There are so many luxurious, high-end vegan textiles that there is no reason to use real animals, like a live ostrich, to turn into fabric.”
Lavender says similar protests have been staged at storefronts in New York and other cities around the world.
“It’s a consumer issue, so people can make a difference,” adds Lavender.
Global News has reached out to Prada for comment, and will update when they respond.
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