Stop the aggravated cruelty towards wild threatened reptiles for the use of luxury products!
In South-East Asia wild captured lizards and snakes are being skinned alive and left to suffer an agonizing death to supply the fashion industry to make luxury products like shoes, boots, belts and jackets in Europe, North America and Japan. This practice is absolutely not acceptable and should not exist anymore. Further, reptile skin trade is also affecting deeply wild populations and endangering many species. For example, the Indonesian populations of the Asian water monitor (Varanus salvator) have been declining over several decades because of the use of its skin in the leather trade. To make a difference, you can send a letter (see below) to Fédération de l’industrie horlogčre suisse a major business gourp using reptile skin and ask them to stop using skins from reptiles to make luxury products.
See video below about the use of wild reptiles to make luxury products. The documentary is in German but can be easily understood by looking at the images.
Letter to be sent (copy and paste)
Your name [INSERT]
Address [INSERT]
City [INSERT]
Country [INSERT]
Fédération de l’industrie horlogčre suisse
Rue d'Argent 6
2502 Bienne
Switzerland
Dear Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry Members,
We have recently watched the shocking Schweizer Fernsehen (Swiss TV) Rundschau documentary “Schockierende Fakten” and have learned that snakes are skinned alive and other reptiles kept alive in bags with their legs tied over their backs for a long time before being brutally butchered for their skins. According to the documentary, the skins end up in luxury stores and are used for a variety of items, including wrist bands for Swiss watches.
Perhaps even more troublesome is the fact that the numbers of reptiles have declined due to collection for the skin trade. It is shocking to see that in this day and age where so much information about endangered wildlife is available, unnecessary threats to wildlife continue to occur. In our view, using wild reptilian skins for luxury items is truly a waste of our natural resources. Not only are species threatened, but ecosystems are degraded with the decline of the reptiles used for watches, handbags, and other items.
We find the torturous treatment of these reptiles as well as that fact that collecting them contributes to the endangerment of reptiles unacceptable. We, therefore, ask you to come up with solutions to resolve the demand for such products. We realize that if you stop using real reptilian skin for your products, the market may simply shift elsewhere; but we wonder if you could try convincing your clients to buy Swiss watches with fake reptilian skins to help save reptiles from becoming endangered and to prevent their maltreatment. We believe that particularly the Federation of the Swiss Industry can be successful at marketing the watches since the quality of the watches themselves is known worldwide to be superb. Please ensure that, if necessary, importers get the skins from sustainably harvested reptiles and that the treatment of these animals is conducted according to the best known animal welfare guidelines.
We appreciate your taking the time to read our letter of concern,
