Pamela Anderson has brought her fight against Canada Goose’s cozy jackets, popular with Hollywood stars and filmmakers, to the Toronto International Film Festival.
The actress wrote TIFF artistic director and co-head Cameron Bailey on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to urge that the fashion line’s sponsorship of the Canadian film fest end after this year’s edition owing to alleged animal rights abuses during the making of the puffy jackets.
Anderson pointedly asks Bailey to no longer take Canada Goose’s “blood money” as a festival sponsor. “As a proud Canadian who has been active with PETA since my days on Baywatch, I’m saddened to learn that TIFF continues to partner with Canada Goose, which sells real fur and down,” Anderson wrote in the letter obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.
The global retailer sponsors the annual $30,000 Canada Goose Award for best Canadian feature film, which is handed out during prize-giving on the final day of the fest, which is set to run Thursday through Sept. 15.
The festival in a statement took no direct view on how Canada Goose acquires its fur and down for its puffy jackets, while adding, “From TIFF’s perspective, CG is abiding by all applicable Canadian laws and continues to support Canadian and international filmmakers through a wide variety of sponsorships and investments.”
Canada Goose in a statement criticized PETA for continuing to misrepresent via Anderson and other celebrity representatives how the global retailer makes its puffy jackets: “We are disappointed that PETA continues to grossly misinform their celebrity spokespeople about our use and sourcing of fur and down and we would encourage them to do their research first and not misrepresent the facts. This scripted rhetoric continues to attempt to mislead consumers, while we remain committed to the responsible use and ethical sourcing of all materials in our products, as evidenced by our transparency standards.”
Anderson and PETA have partnered before to protest coyotes being trapped to give Canada Goose jackets a fur-trimmed hood. Anderson, a longtime animal rights activist, in July 2015 wrote an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin asking him to save endangered fin whales.
“I admire TIFF’s dedication to promoting gender equality in the film industry with the Share Her Journey initiative, and I hope you’ll take another progressive step to end injustice by refusing Canada Goose’s blood money,” she added in her letter to TIFF.
The Berlin International Film Festival ended its sponsorship contract with Canada Goose and its down-filled coats after its 2016 edition.
Pamela Anderson’s letter to Bailey is below.
Dear Mr. Bailey, As a proud Canadian who has been active with PETA since my days on Baywatch, I’m saddened to learn that TIFF continues to partner with Canada Goose, which sells real fur and down. I admire TIFF’s dedication to promoting gender equality in the film industry with the “Share Her Journey” initiative, and I hope you’ll take another progressive step to end injustice by refusing Canada Goose’s blood money.
Canada Goose’s “standards” allow for coyotes to suffer for days in steel traps with a broken or bleeding leg before the trapper returns to shoot or bludgeon them to death, and the company’s jackets are stuffed with the down feathers of birds who died violently. In the down industry, birds end up at the slaughterhouse, where they’re immobilized, their throats are slit, and their bodies are scalded in defeathering tanks.
Canada Goose recently removed some misleading claims of “ethical” sourcing from its website following a PETA complaint to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the agency’s subsequent investigation. So many innovative vegan materials can be used instead, and now, hundreds of fashion companies — including Chanel, Gucci, Michael Kors, The North Face, and Versace — keep fur out of their lines.
But instead of making the switch, Canada Goose is seemingly trying to hide exactly how coyotes and birds are killed for its products. TIFF has rightfully taken its place in world cinema and can afford to be selective in its sponsorships. I urge you to make this year the last one in which you have Canada Goose as a sponsor, just as the Berlin International Film Festival cut ties with the company in 2017. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely, Pamela Anderson
source: hollywoodreporter.com
Read more: http://pamanderson.proboards.com/thread/9229/urges-toronto-canada#ixzz5yrdaQIbb
