Two quick actions: please tell Showtime to pull program promo depicting cruelty & tell Coach to stop using fur

1. From PETA: Please visit HERE to send a message to Showtime asking them to pull show promo depicting animal cruelty.

Showtime is currently running a promo for its new television series, Shameless, that includes a clip of a teenage boy holding a screeching cat in one hand and a blowtorch in the other, with the clear implication that he is about to torture the cat by burning her with the torch. The offensive scene is meant to be humorous, but compassionate citizens everywhere agree that cruelty to animals is not a laughing matter.

Cruelty to animals—including the burning of cats and dogs—happens each and every day in this country. We here at PETA receive countless reports of animal abuse, many of which involve young perpetrators. Executives at Showtime might be surprised to learn that depicting animal abuse on television encourages potentially deadly “copycat” actions.

This promo reminded many viewers—and our cruelty caseworkers—of numerous real-life instances in which animals were tortured with fire. Earlier this year, a teenage boy in Rochester, New York, was charged after using hair spray and a lighter to set a 2-month-old kitten on fire. The kitten was so badly burned that she had to be euthanized. In 2009, three teenagers in Miles City, Montana, were charged after choking a cat and then throwing him into a bonfire while he was still alive.

Using the form HERE, please send a polite note to Showtime and urge the network to pull this offensive promo.

Remind Showtime that viewers are less likely to watch television programs that promote violence toward animals.

2. From PETA, please send message (sample below) to Coach asking CEO to reject fur.

Luxury fashion design company Coach refuses to stop selling fur, despite the fact that PETA has repeatedly explained to company executives that animals on fur farms live in cramped, filthy conditions before they are bludgeoned, electrocuted, and sometimes even skinned alive. Animals who are trapped in the wild may suffer for days before trappers arrive to crush their chests or stomp or beat them to death.

Coach lags behind other fashion-industry leaders who have dumped fur, such as Polo Ralph Lauren, Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood, Calvin Klein, Betsey Johnson, Gap Inc., Nike Inc. (including Cole Haan), and Liz Claiborne Inc. (including Juicy Couture and Coach competitor Kate Spade).

Millions of animals who are cruelly trapped, farmed, and killed for their fur every year around the world need your help now. Please politely write to Coach and demand that it join the dozens of other top designers and retailers who have dumped fur.

Please send a message to Coach’s CEO, Lew Frankfort, at lfrankfort@coach.com, and urge him to end its sale of fur immediately and implement a fur-free policy. Please also consider writing to or calling Coach by using the following information:

Coach, Inc.
516 W. 34th St.
New York, NY 10001-1394
212-594-1850

WHERE TO SEND YOUR MESSAGE / WHOM TO CONTACT:

Email:
Coach’s CEO, Lew Frankfort:  lfrankfort@coach.com

Postal, telephone:
Coach, Inc.
516 W. 34th St.
New York, NY 10001-1394
212-594-1850

SAMPLE MESSAGE: (Please modify and shorten!  Thank you.)

Dear CEO Frankfort,

I am shocked to discover that Coach is still commercially engaged with the fur industry. Due to the inherently-brutal business of fur farming, any products derived for or from the suffering and killing of animals should be rejected, and I am respectfully requesting that Coach finally discontinues profiting off the exploitation of animals.

Please watch the undercover footage of the industry you promote: animals are forced to endure deplorable conditions including living in cramped, feces-crusted cages; suffering from sickness and disease; lacking an enriching environment; and being subjected to substandard diets and severe psychological trauma.  They are then butchered via anal electrocution, gassing, skinning alive, and forced trauma.  Why in the world would you WANT to cause such suffering?

FurStop.Com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTZQnQeAPJc&feature=player_embedded

Humans are capable, indeed obligated, to acknowledge animals as sentient beings who, like humans, experience love, anguish, pain, and suffering. Human apathy as established by the usage of fabrications and euphemisms reflects a lack of respect, not only for animals, but also for humans, and I implore upon you to examine your role in the suffering of animals and your unscrupulous conduct as host to such a cruel business. Regrettably, as long as Coach unnecessarily and selfishly capitalizes on the mutilation, torture, and death of animals, I will not financially support you or your associated products. Furthermore, I will share this information with family, friends, colleagues, and members of online communities.

Please make both the ethical and responsible decision to discontinue your commercial support of fur immediately: join an increasing body of corporations who are listening to a concerned and attentive consumer population who refuse to be complicit in the inherently malicious industry of fur farming. I hope this letter finds you willing to scrutinize your own involvement and desire to protect, rather than harm, animals.

Sincerely,

NAME, ADDRESS

RESOURCES

Fur Exposed In 60 Seconds

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Is It Real or Fake Fur?

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Leather & Fur Alternatives

Dressing Cruelty Free: Vegan Companies

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