Fashionistas — you might not be making the kind of statement you intended with your Louis Vuitton label handbag.
Consumers should think twice when it comes to buying hands bags, purses and belts from Louis Vuitton.
The world-famous designer is responsible for sourcing crocodiles raised in horrible conditions and killed using unusually brutal methods.
Tens of thousands of crocodiles are packed together like sardines in farms throughout Vietnam for their exotic skins. Once crocodiles are fully grown, workers on the farms violently kill them.
First they electro-shock the animal, then cut open its neck. Then, while the crocodile is still breathing, farmers jam a long metal rod down its spine, causing the animal to shake vigorously. Watch the video here (viewer discretions advised).
“One crocodile’s leg can be seen raising up after he was cut open. Then workers leave him to bleed out,” said PETA.
While they’re still bleeding out and moving, farmers will throw the crocodile into a small concrete room where they’ll skin the animal alive.
Experts say that crocodiles can be conscious for over an hour after their spinal cord has been severed and their blood vessels cut.
A reptile expert who watched footage of the crocodiles being slaughtered said that “the neck incisions would have been very painful and inhumane,” and “There is no probability that these animals ‘died instantly,” according to PETA.
After the footage came out it wants a “responsible supply” of crocodile skins that “guarantees respect for animal well-being.”
They’ll use a committee “developed and validated by technical experts” to come up with new standards for animal treatment.
However, PETA thinks the company is just paying lip service to the issue saying,
“Louis Vuitton’s assurances of “responsibly-supplied” crocodile skin are tosh, given that it will apparently take the company nearly two years to get around to ensuring pretty much nothing.”
“Most importantly, the standard won’t prevent the worst of the cruel practices: the method of slaughter, which consists of cutting the back of the crocodile’s neck and thrusting a metal rod down the live animal’s spine, causing unimaginable agony.”
Why spend thousands of dollars on high-priced, inhumanely-raised products in the first place? There’s no better time then now to switch over to hemp made products, which are more sustainable and better for the environment.