Animal-rights organization, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), has purchased shares of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) in the hopes of pressuring the conglomerate and its subsidiaries to stop using exotic animal skin in their luxury products.
The announcement comes on the heels of last December’s PETA-funded investigation into the mistreatment of crocodiles on Vietnamese farms which allegedly supplied hides to two LVMH-owned tanneries.
The stake in the French luxury group will give PETA the right to attend shareholder meetings and question the board in front of other shareholders, a power they intend to take full advantage of. According to the organization’s president, Ingrid Newkirk, “Every PETA exposé of the exotic-skins industry has found sensitive living beings crammed into filthy pits, hacked apart and left to die… From demonstrating on the street to speaking up in the boardroom, PETA will push LVMH to stop selling any bag, watchband or shoe made from a reptile’s skin.”
You can read more about PETA’s plan at BBC and New York Magazine.
