Daily Times

Prada Group had no comment on Friday on its newest and potentially most vocal shareholder – PETA. On its website, the non-profit organisation formally known as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said it hopes to help the company pull its head out of the sand as it aims to end the sale of cruelly produced ostrich-skin purses.

PETA states that the purchase of shares in the Italian fashion group, whose amount is not revealed, will allow for a push from inside the Prada corporation.

The move stems from an eyewitness exposé, showing that one-year-old ostriches are electrically shocked and have their throats slit to produce bags, shoes and wallets. The organisation believes that by attending Prada’s annual meetings it will be able to officially call for an end to all exotic-skins sales.

“As documented in video footage released by PETA, the largest ostrich-skin companies in the world keep young ostriches in barren dirt feedlots until they’re trucked to slaughter at just 1-year-old, far short of their natural 40-year life span,” PETA said. “At the slaughterhouse, frightened birds are turned upside down in a stunner, have their throats slit, and have their feathers plucked out to create the bumpy-textured skin used for Prada bags.”

PETA also calls Hermès out to ‘ditch’ exotic skins. On Thursday, PETA scored another victory in its campaign to ban angora wool in the fashion industry, revealing that Nasty Gal was dropping items made with the rabbit fur, as reported.

Los Angeles-based Nasty Gal has joined more than 120 brands – including H&M, Topshop, Asos, Urban Outfitters and Forever 21, in banning angora wool. PETA, which is based in Norfolk, Vyoming, recently conducted an investigation of the angora wool industry, leading to allegations of harsh and inhumane conditions in which the rabbits used for angora are treated.