Flailing ‘Snake’ to Protest Cruel Reptile-Skin Sales Outside Gucci Store Ahead of Chinese New Year

Flailing ‘Snake’ to Protest Cruel Reptile-Skin Sales Outside Gucci Store Ahead of Chinese New Year

What: Ahead of ringing in Year of the Snake —A PETA supporter dressing up as a stunning 6-meter-long snake will thrash around outside Gucci store in Ginza with a sign declaring, “Gucci: Killing Snakes Brings Bad Luck.” The action is part of PETA’s campaign urging Gucci to stop selling accessories made from the skins of tormented pythons and for consumers to keep reptile skins off their shopping lists.

A PETA Asia investigation revealed that workers at two python farms that supply skins to a tannery operated by Kering—the owner of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent—pinned struggling pythons down by the neck before bashing them over the head with a hammer and impaling them on hooks while they were still moving.

“Pythons are complex beings who enjoy basking in the warmth of the sun, but the snakes sentenced to die for Gucci’s designs are confined to tiny, filthy boxes before being bludgeoned, pierced through the skull, and skinned,” says PETA Asia Senior Vice President Jason Baker. “PETA is calling on Gucci to stop peddling pythons’ body parts and for shoppers to honour the Year of the Snake by leaving reptiles in peace.”

Where: Out front of GUCCI Namiki-dori store, 6-6-12 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo. Google Maps link here.

When: Tuesday, January 28, 12:00 sharp

Credit: PETA Asia

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAAsia.com or follow the group on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, X, Facebook, or Threads.

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