Nike and its affiliate Cole Haan announced that they will stop selling products that are made from exotic skins like lizard, snake and alligator.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said Cole Haan is the first maker of high-end accessories and shoes to ban exotic skins. Cole Haan defines exotic as including alligator, crocodile, lizard, snake and ostrich.
A Nike spokesman told the Associated Press that products using those materials will be eliminated across the entire Nike line after the summer retail season.
According to Nike’s revised company policy, “Animal Skins must not be any species considered to be exotic. Examples include, but are not limited to alligator, crocodile, lizard, snake, ostrich, fish, marine mammals, etc.”
“Every snakeskin bag, shoe, or jacket sold in a trendy boutique comes with a high price–and it’s paid by animals who are torn away from their jungle homes and cruelly killed,” said PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman, in a statement. “Were asking retailers worldwide to follow Nike’s lead and step away from cruelty to animals by giving exotic leather the boot.”
In Africa, Asia, and the U.S, exotic animals–including snakes, lizards, alligators, and crocodiles–are hunted or raised and killed specifically for their skins, according to PETA.
