According to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), ‘Gap isn’t fur free as it claims to be’. The animal rights group have dispatched a letter to the retail giant for violating its own code of conduct and also deceiving customers by continuing to sell fur through its Intermix brand. PETA is demanding an end to GAP’s false advertising related to immediate removal of all fur-related products. “Gap Inc. has used its fur-free policy to lure in kind consumers who otherwise would never have supported a company that subjects animals to beatings, miserable confinement and live skinning. PETA is demanding that the company drop fur from all its brands immediately, for the good of animals and consumers,” states Tracy Reiman, Executive Vice President, PETA.
In 2014, animal activists slammed Piperlime, the retailer’s now-defunct online marketplace, for hawking items made with rabbit, fox, and other furs. PETA has revealed that Intermix has been selling fur from rabbits, coyotes, foxes, minks and Asiatic racoon dogs, “animals that are slammed to the ground and bludgeoned with metal rods causing convulsions and broken bones but not immediate deaths. Many are skinned alive before they are tossed onto a heap of carcasses,” claims PETA in a statement. PETA has created an online petition urging Gap to join dozens of retailers, including Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, J. Crew and ZARA, banning fur from its collection. Till date the petition has garnered more than 132,000 signatures.
