PETA on Year of the Snake: Don’t wear snakeskin

MANILA, Philippines — Dressed in “bloody” snake suits to welcome the Lunar New Year, members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) held a demonstration in Binondo, Manila yesterday to protest the use of snakeskin in the manufacture of bags and shoes.

Some of the PETA members were tied to a pole, with banners beside them stating, “Happy Year of the Snake: Don’t Wear Their Skin!”

“The disturbing visual sheds light on the suffering of snakes whose skin is stolen for bags, watchbands shoes and more,” PETA said.

The group cited videos “showing the cruelty in the ‘exotic’ skins industry – snakes are beaten, beheaded, impaled and inflated, with many remaining unconscious as their skin is torn from their bodies.”

The protest is part of the Lunar New Year celebration on Jan. 29, marking the start of the Year of the Snake in the Chinese zodiac.

“The only way to celebrate the Year of the Snake is to ditch snakeskin. We urge everyone to let these reptiles keep their skins and live in peace, as they deserve,” PETA senior vice president Jason Baker said.

According to PETA, snake farms and slaughterhouses in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam show that snakes killed for their skins are often kept in cramped, filthy boxes and may be battered with hammers, impaled, inflated with water and skinned while still conscious.

The animal rights group explained that snakes are complex beings who use their tongue to smell, have strong homing instincts, prefer to associate with their relatives and have been living on the planet for more than 100 million years.

Snake stamp

Meanwhile, the Philippine Postal Corp. (PHLPost) released yesterday a cartoon-design Year of the Snake stamp to make philately more appealing to the “Gen Z” crowd.

PHLPost Postmaster General Luis Carlos led the launching at Robinsons Manila.

“Featuring the Wooden Snake, we came up with a cartoon or animation stamp to attract the younger generation,” Carlos said.