Activists with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, known as PETA, protested outside the Coach store in Brickell City Centre in Miami on Black Friday to call attention to the luxury retailer’s sale of “animal and planet-killing leather.”
“Every leather item is stitched with the misery of a thinking, feeling being who died in agony,” said PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman in a statement released by the global animal rights group. “PETA is calling on Coach to stop peddling the sliced-off skin of tormented animals and urges holiday shoppers to keep cruelty off their gift list by refusing to buy leather.”
The protest on S. Miami Avenue is part of PETA's nationwide “Free the Animals Friday” initiative, which urges holiday shoppers to choose “cruelty-free vegan options.”
Tapestry Inc., which owns the Coach brand, did not respond to WLRN's request for comment. But the company, on its website, reports its goal is to use "recycled inputs" or "next-generation materials" in its leather products.
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