It’s a side of Joss Stone you’ve never seen before: the singer appears as a crocodile in a stark new PETA advert that states, “3 Animals Are Killed to Make 1 Crocodile Bag. Say NO to Exotic Skins”.
The ad was shot by top photographer Andrzej Dragan and comes in the wake of a PETA exposé of farms that supply crocodile and alligator skins to Hermès-owned tanneries, which revealed that reptiles were trapped in barren and severely crowded pits. 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.”
“Every bag made from exotic skins comes with a high price – and it’s paid by the animals who are raised in filthy, crowded, waste-filled tanks and cruelly killed. We don’t need to steal animals’ skin for fashion, and we’re grateful that Joss has joined us in sending this message”, says PETA Associate Director Elisa Allen.
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 has previously teamed up with PETA to draw attention to the plight of bears who are cruelly killed to make The Queen’s Guard’s ceremonial caps.
