With her naked body painted to resemble a lizard’s skin, Canadian actor Laura Vandervoort—known for her roles on TV’s Smallville and V, among others—is the star of a brand-new PETA ad campaign exposing the cruelty of the exotic-skins industry that reads, “Whose Skin Are You in? Leave Wildlife out of Your Wardrobe.” The ad, available here, was shot by Nick Saglimbeni for SlickforceStudio and was revealed by Vandervoort in person during Toronto Fashion Week. Photos of the unveiling are available upon request.
“Three or four alligators have to die for one purse. They nail the snake’s head to a tree while it is still alive and peel its skin off,” said Vandervoort in an exclusive PETA interview. “Because they are cold-blooded creatures, they take that much longer to die, so they suffer that much longer. … [Y]ou wouldn’t skin your dog to wear to an event, to go out on a date, just for a status symbol. So please, have some compassion for animals.”
As shown in PETA’s exposé of the exotic-skins trade narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, snakes, alligators, and other exotic animals who are killed for their skin suffer immensely. They are commonly nailed to trees, bludgeoned with hammers, and skinned alive, and it often takes hours for the animals to die, usually from shock or dehydration. With her new PETA campaign, Vandervoort hopes to convince shoppers to cross all exotic-animal clothes, shoes, and accessories off their shopping lists and instead stick to mock croc and fake snake.
Vandervoort joins a long list of celebrities—including Eva Mendes, Taraji P. Henson, Alicia Silverstone, Jenna Dewan Tatum, Olivia Munn, and Elisabetta Canalis—who have bared it all to help PETA’s animal protection efforts.
For more information and to view the ad, please visit PETA.org or click here.
Senorita