Welcome to Email News: Terrified dogs beaten and skinned

Will you help animals like Meyli escape misery and a terrifying death?

Dear Aaaaaaa,

Meyli is terrified. The floor around her is slick with the blood of dozens of dogs killed before her, and their bodies hang on hooks or soak in vats of water. The slaughterhouse reeks of death—and she and the other dogs in the holding pen are frantic to escape.

Soon, a worker will grab her with metal pincers and bash her over the head with a wooden club. She may not die instantly—and still struggle to breathe even after her throat is slit, writhing on the filthy floor before her skin is peeled off.

Meyli is no different from the loyal, loving dogs who share many of our homes—but rather than receiving affection, she'll be violently killed so that her skin can be turned into a belt or pair of gloves. Will you give to PETA's "Save Our Skins" Matching-Gift Challenge today and help prevent animals like her from enduring torment and pain?

What dogs like Meyli experience seems like a scene from a horror movie, but it's happening in Chinese slaughterhouses right now. An employee of one told a PETA Asia investigator that just that single operation killed and skinned as many as 200 dogs a day.

The investigator witnessed dog skin being turned into men's work gloves and other items that are exported from China and sold all around the world to unsuspecting consumers. And it's not just leather—dogs and cats sold at Chinese animal markets are also killed for their fur and sometimes skinned alive! On Chinese fur factory farms, foxes, minks, and rabbits are confined to filthy, cramped cages until they are yanked out, bludgeoned, and skinned. Investigators documented that the hearts of some of those animals were still beating even after their fur was cut off their bodies.

No animal should suffer for a pair of shoes, a wallet, or a bit of fur trim. Your donation to this special matching-gift challenge will be doubled—pushing us closer to our $250,000 goal.

With help from our determined supporters, PETA's campaigns have reached so many consumers that now it's rare to see a full-length fur coat—and more designers than ever are shunning fur, leather, and other animal-derived materials.

Even Donatella Versace—whose use of fur we vigorously campaigned to stop—has joined Michael Kors, Gucci, and others in going fur-free. PETA Asia's exposé of the Chinese dog-leather industry inspired members of Congress to seek a ban on the importation of dog leather. And major brands like H&M, Zara, Topshop, and Gap Inc. are dropping angora and mohair in quick succession following PETA exposés of these grisly industries, so it's clear that momentum is on our side—thanks to support from kind people like you.

Please donate to our "Save Our Skins" challenge today. Every penny of your contribution will strengthen PETA's groundbreaking work to reduce and ultimately stop cruelty to animals by the clothing industry.

Thank you for your compassion.

Kind regards,

Ingrid E. Newkirk
President