Trendsetting U.K.-based retailer Topshop teamed up with PETA U.K. to make over the window of its Oxford Street flagship store for the weekend and send a message to shoppers that exotic skins are not in. (Take that, Beyoncé.)

In order to make handbags, shoes, and Super Bowl halftime outfits, snakes are commonly nailed to trees and skinned alive, and alligators and lizards are bludgeoned with hammers. It can take several agonizing hours for the animals to die, usually from shock or dehydration. Watch PETA's shocking exposé, narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, to learn more about the suffering that lies behind those crocodile backpacks and python pumps. Reptiles may be cold-blooded, but wearing their skins is cold-hearted.

Please follow Topshop's lead (it doesn't sell fur or exotic skins) and pledge to keep wildlife out of your wardrobe.

Take the Pledge. 

It could almost be a story out of The Onion, but it's completely true. Shoemaker PMK designed a pair of sneakers for Beyoncé, called "King Beys," made of calf hair and crocodile, anaconda, stingray, and ostrich skins. The company started marketing the shoes on its website, and, incredibly, told consumers that "[n]o animals were beaten, harmed, or killed" for the shoes. I think the five different species of animals who were most certainly beaten, harmed, and killed for the shoes would beg to differ.

In response, PETA's legal counsel has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Andre Scott, the CEO of PMK, demanding that the company immediately stop issuing false and misleading statements to customers or face legal action.

If Scott and other executives are in doubt, PETA invited them to watch our video exposé "Cold-Blooded Horrors," narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, which shows how many of the exotic animals they used are beaten, stabbed, and flayed alive.

PMK isn't exactly known for being a by-the-book company. On January 23, Ohio's attorney general filed a lawsuit against it and Scott for violating customer protection laws. The suit alleges that consumers paid for but did not receive products nor did they receive refunds from the company. PMK also received an "F" rating from the Better Business Bureau.

We're giving PMK an "F," too—for "false," "fraudulent," and "facing a lawsuit."

We knew our Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity nominee Rooney Mara was meat-free, but it seems that the girl with the dragon tattoo is also the girl who bid dairy adieu. The buzz from the Sundance Film Festival is that Rooney has been noshing on vegan eats. Perhaps Casey Affleck rubbed off on her while they were filming Ain't Them Bodies Saints. 

They'll both have plenty to munch on at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Oscars. To satisfy vegan nominees, such as Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, and Joaquin Phoenix, the SAG awards will offer roasted beets with blood oranges, mint, and black olives; cauliflower couscous with pomegranate salsa; and farro with kale, young broccoli, currants, and pine nuts and the Oscars menu will include vegan pizza. 

Original fun girl Cyndi Lauper is also working on being a vegan fun girl and is tweeting about her progress. "I got to admit," she wrote, "my voice sounds grt frm this diet." PETA has been tweeting Cyndi some yummy recipes to try, suggesting good restaurants to stop at while she's on the road, and, of course, keeping up with all the buzz that Cyndi and other celebs are stirring up for animals on Twitter:

With the big game fast approaching, we're betting that Rooney Mara's family full of football fanatics—as well as scores of other folks—will be taking PETA's advice and serving up vegan wings on Super Bowl Sunday. What else would be appropriate while cheering on animal defender Terrell Suggs and the Ravens?

But it will be a bittersweet end to the season for us if our buddy Tony Gonzalez really is hanging up his cleats for good. Tony is reportedly considering retirement, and while we hope we get to cheer for our favorite Falcons player again, we're proud that he will go down in history as the greatest tight end in the NFL. 

To keep up with what all your favorite stars are doing for animals, follow @PETA on Twitter.

 Ann Taylor and LOFT wearers, rejoice! The parent company of those iconic clothing and accessory brands, ANN INC., has banned the use of exotic-animal skins in its product lines after meeting with PETA and learning about the extreme animal suffering caused by the exotic-skins industry. The company's newly revised animal welfare policy reads, "Our private label brands do not use real animal fur and do not knowingly sell products with skins considered to be exotic, including but not limited to alligator, crocodile and ostrich."

ANN INC. joins Mango, H&M, Victoria's Secret, PUMA, and others in adopting animal welfare policies that ban exotic-animal skins. In Africa, Asia, and the U.S., exotic animals—including snakes and lizards—are hunted or raised and killed specifically for their skins. Alligators and crocodiles are stabbed in the neck with a metal chisel or bludgeoned with metal bats. PETA Asia's undercover investigations found live snakes nailed to trees by their heads before their skin was torn off their writhing bodies.

What You Can Do

If you see people wearing or selling exotic skins, please ask them to watch PETA's hard-hitting video exposé "Cold-Blooded Horrors: Inside the Exotic-Skins Trade" narrated by The Master star and longtime PETA pal Joaquin Phoenix to learn about the cruelty behind their fashion choices.

Are you ready for (cue ominous music) … Snakes on a Train?

No, it's not the sequel to that (in)famous Samuel L. Jackson film—although it is the title of a straight-to-video rip-off. In this case, it's a new PETA campaign that is sure to get some attention for reptiles killed for their skins.

What Are Your Hands Holding?

PETA is asking the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) for permission to launch its new "Snakes on a Train" campaign on the T, featuring realistic-looking rubber snakes wrapped around subway poles and handles, as well as a slogan on the windows that reads, "Snakes Make Your Skin Crawl? Shed All Scaly Belts and Bags! Watch Video at PETA.org":

Snakes: (c) iStockphoto.com/Eric Isslee - Train:(c) DDholer

PETA hopes to scare commuters out of their snakeskin boots, shoes, purses, and belts. In order to make snakeskin accessories, these reptiles are nailed to trees or posts and skinned alive. Their mutilated bodies are discarded, and it sometimes takes hours for them to die.

How You Can Help Snakes

If you wouldn't want to hold on to a snake during your commute, why would you want to have their dead flesh wrapped around your waist, feet, or personal belongings? Let's shed exotic skins for good.

Ask anyone on the PETA staff and they can tell you about lots of people—even hard-nosed, stalwart, meat-eating relatives—who've seen one little video clip and changed their minds about turkeys. Help everyone opt for that delicious Tofurky instead of a slice of contaminated dead turkey by cuing up one of our funny little PETA Thanksgiving public service announcements (PSAs) to provide helpful insight into why a cruelty-free feast is the way to go.

While fashion designer Victoria Beckham, aka "Posh Spice," has vowed that none of her collections will ever include a stitch of fur, for which we thank and praise her, she has been silent on the subject of whether or not her new handbag collection will contain the skins of crocodiles, snakes, and other reptiles killed for fashion. And with the fashion diva's New York City runway show coming up this weekend, even the New York Daily News called her out for keeping mum on PETA's inquiries.

Alligator:© Dean Perrus/Dreamstime.com, Handle:© Luminis/Dreamstime.com, Zipper:© iStockPhoto.com

In a recent letter to Beckham, PETA Senior Vice President Dan Mathews described the horrors of the exotic-skins trade as shown in a PETA video narrated by Academy Award nominee Joaquin Phoenix and described how farmed reptiles are beaten over the head before being skinned alive. Snakes are either nailed to trees or poles by their heads or have water forced down their throats to loosen their skin before they, too, are skinned alive.

Beckham has stated that her bags adhere to the guidelines set forth by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), but PETA explained that CITES aims only to prevent a species from going extinct and has nothing to do with the atrocious ways in which animals are confined and killed.

Bags, belts, shoes, and watchbands made from high-fashion pleather abound, so there's never been a better time to give leather and exotic-animal skins the boot. In the meantime, we'll keep doing our best to get Posh to dump the croc.

Written by Alisa Mullins

Could be because it’s almost the first day of summer. Nah, it’s definitely PETA’s Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrities of 2011 contest. Voting has begun to help us narrow down the 100 male and female nominees to our top five in each group who make our little veggie-loving hearts skip a beet beat.
 

 
So, which hunk of Bocacake gets your vote? Bill Clinton or a Beatle? Joaquin’s sexy smile or Jared Leto and those baby blues?  Could it be a bi-coastal competition of funny man Russell Brand against easy-on-the-eyes Casey Affleck?

And which veggie vixen will walk away with the top prize? Will it be the battle of the A-team, Aimee and Anne? Or could it all come down to the Kristens – Wiig and Bell? Maybe the inventor of sexy, Pamela Anderson, will stage a coup?
 

Let us know who you think we should name the finalists! This year, for the first time, voting will take place on Twitter using the hash tag #sexyvegceleb, but you can also use the voting page. Let us know who you think we should pick by June 17 and stay tuned for the swoon-worthy finalists. 
 

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Yesterday was the official first day of summer, but PETA's Web site has been scorching for days, thanks to our Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity contest. We're into the final heat—voting ends this Wednesday, June 23—so if you haven't weighed in, don't let those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer get you just yet. Put the pedal to the metal and vote now to help us choose this year's Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity. Here are some of the current frontrunners:

• The caring king of six-pack abs, celebrity fitness trainer Bob Harper
• The delightfully raunchy star of Get Him to the Greek, Russell Brand
• Dashing do-gooder and Twitter founder Biz Stone
• The brash and beautiful comic who can make just about anyone blush, Sarah Silverman
• The gorgeous songbird who makes caring people giddy with Glee, Lea Michele
• The elegant vegan environmentalist* and star of Bones, Emily Deschanel

I know it's tough to choose just one man and one woman, but if I can do it, so can you. My personal faves: The Howard Stern Show cohost with the infectious laugh, ravishing Robin Quivers, and the achingly handsome actor Joaquin Phoenix. Now go cast your vote for two sexy veggie celebrities to help us decide the Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity of 2010.

Written by Karin Bennett

*We all know that you can't be a meat-eater and call yourself an environmentalist.

Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe– and Grammy-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix is talented, compassionate, and heart-achingly handsome. (I assure you, it's a harmless crush.)

Joaquin, who is vhegan—right down to his pleather gladiators—has narrated our exotic-skins video in the hope of inspiring both shoe aficionados and luxe footwear designers to shun exotic skins, à la Nike, Cole Haan, H&M, and Overstock.com.

He's also penned letters to Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin in which he points out that many snakes, alligators, lizards, and crocodiles are skinned alive by people who believe that the practice makes leather more supple. Snakes can remain alive for up to four days after they are skinned.

There are enough skin-free styles to inspire any shoe fanatic and handbag addict to give skins the boot. I personally can't get enough of the offerings at MooShoes. How do you satisfy your need for skin-free kicks?

Written by Karin Bennett