These shocking images taken show a Russian fur farm where rabbits have their heads hacked off and chinchillas are electrocuted and have their necks snapped.
The images come from PETA’s first expose of the fur trade in Russia and were reportedly taken across five farms in the country.
Video Credit: CEN/PETA
In the video, animals can be seen being kept in tiny cages when a worker takes a white rabbit and hits it on the head with a metal pipe.
A worker can then be seen slitting a white rabbit’s neck while it was reportedly still conscious.
The clip then shows a chinchilla being electrocuted before its neck is snapped. Animals including foxes, minks and sables can be seen in tiny wire-mesh cages.
PETA report one chinchilla was seemingly blind but still forced to breed. The report adds that one worker at the farms said that animals are killed if they relieve themselves in the “wrong” area of the cage as “any animal must be clean, if you produce not clean skin, you’re losing a lot of price.”
The investigation was carried out in October 2019 and a worker reportedly told the eyewitness that the farm they work on sells 30 percent of their product to Kopenhagen Fur.
Kopenhagen Fur is an auction house which sells animal skins to companies throughout the world.
PETA Senior Vice President of International Campaigns Jason Baker said: “Every compassionate shopper should keep firmly in mind that behind every fur coat, collar, or cuff is a filthy wire cage, a shrieking animal, and a blood-soaked slaughterhouse floor.
“This holiday season, PETA is urging everyone to help give some peace to these tormented animals by going fur-free.”
The report states that the regulation of animal welfare in Russia is practically “non-existent” and added that the country does not have any laws to protect farmed animals.
PETA asked consumers, designers and retailers to join other fur-free designers and retailers such as Zara, H&M, Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, Stella McCartney, Versace, Gucci, and Michael Kors.
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Story By: Alex Cope, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
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