PETA buys share in Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey
What's the story
Animal rights activist group PETA has bought shares in French luxury goods company Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey (LVMH) in a bid to stop it from selling exotic animal skin products. It is expected that a PETA representative will address other shareholders at LVMH's annual general meeting. LVMH did not comment on the news. Earlier, PETA had adopted a similar strategy for Prada and Hermes.
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Crocodiles are hacked alive
PETA's decision to become a LVMH shareholder was prompted by an expose which revealed that reptiles in crocodile farms in Vietnam, which had supplied skins to LVMH, "are confined to tiny pits and sometimes hacked into while they're still alive and thrashing".
Hermes
PETA challenges Hermes to stop using animal skins
In late July 2015, PETA announced that it had bought shares in another French high fashion group called Hermes International. In May 2016, a PETA representative confronted Hermes CEO Axel Dumas at the company's annual general meeting. The representative, Isabella Goetz, read out allegations of cruelty to animals and asked if Hermes planned to put an end to such practices. Dumas denied the charges.
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Two steps forward, one step back
In 2015, on viewing a video of inhumane practices in a Texas crocodile farm, English actress Jane Birkin, on whom Hermes' iconic Birkin bag was named, asked Hermes to remove her name from the bag. Hermes, however, assured her that the farm wasn't theirs.
Prada
PETA becomes a Prada shareholder
Similarly, in April 2016, PETA became a shareholder of Italian luxury fashion house Prada so that it could attend shareholder meetings and try and influence decisions. PETA's decision was prompted by the release of an eyewitness expose which revealed that ostriches get electrocuted and have their throats slit for the production of ostrich-skin products by high fashion houses.