PETAleopard ladies strip off for animals

Body-painted leopard spots, cat ears and "Only animals should wear fur" posters were all that two members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wore in downtown Seoul yesterday as part of an anti-fur demonstration.

After stripping despite the bitterly cold weather, Lisa Franzetta, coordinator of PETA`s international fur campaign, and Christina Cho, a Korean-American animal rights activist, were devoured by a hungry media pack and finally arrested by police.

"It was a mob scene out there. We weren`t expecting that," Franzetta told The Korea Herald after returning from Jung-bu Police Station where she and Cho were charged with indecent exposure. "We were hoping to be out there longer," she added.

The protest was planned to last an hour, but was brought to a halt by police who were lying in wait for the pair.

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Within five minutes of Franzetta and Cho`s arrival in Myeong-dong`s bustling shopping district, police officers swarmed over the "nearly nude" protesters and tried to cover them with blankets.

Photographers pushed and shoved to get snaps of the topless ladies while police struggled to make their arrests. In the confusion Franzetta and Cho were parted from a bag which contained their passports.

"Nude demonstrations are illegal in Korea," said Choi Jeon-ho from the Foreign Affairs Division at Jung-bu Police Station.

Franzetta and Cho are due to appear at a Seoul court today.

"We`re willing to bare our skin to save the skins of animals exploited for the sake of fashion," said Cho. "With today`s toasty and fashionable synthetics, there`s no excuse to wear fur."

Due to the growing awareness of cruelty inflicted on animals, "the trend over the last 10 years is that the fur industry has declined in the West and Europe," Franzetta said. "The fur industry is targeting Asian markets," she added.

Fur sales have recently expanded to South Korea, China and Japan, away from the traditional markets in North America, Western Europe and Scandinavia.

PETA aims to raise awareness in Asia of the suffering of animals, which includes poisoning, gassing, anal electrocution or neck-breaking, before they are killed for fur.

The ingenious campaigns of Franzetta and Cho have also taken them to Tokyo where on Tuesday they held raw fox carcasses with "Here`s the rest of your fur coat" placards.

(jane@heraldm.com)





By Jane Cooper