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PETA volunteers Elena Cohen (fox) Cassandra Callaghan (rabbit) skate nearly naked in Clinton Square on Wednesday, March 11, 2015, to raise awareness about animal cruelty in the fur industry.

(Katrina Tulloch | ktulloch@syracuse.com)

PETA volunteers Elena Cohen (fox) Cassandra Callaghan (rabbit) skate nearly naked in Clinton Square on Wednesday, March 11, 2015, to raise awareness about animal cruelty in the fur industry.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Two nearly naked PETA volunteers, dressed as a rabbit and fox, skated in their skivvies at Clinton Square Ice Rink on Wednesday holding signs reading "Be Kind, Wear Vegan."

The skaters -- Cassandra Callaghan and Elena Cohen of Brooklyn -- stripped down to their underwear and skated with signs asking passersby to stop buying leather, fur, and angora wool clothing and accessories.

"Most people know the fur industry is extremely cruel," said PETA campaign specialist Ashley Byrne. "But if people saw the angora rabbits' fur being yanked out by the fistful while they're completely conscious, they might rethink their wardrobe completely. No one in their right mind would want to support this industry if they saw it firsthand."

Byrne asks people to stay warm this winter with faux fur and wool instead. She's been a nearly naked skater herself, having skated as a cheetah for a similar campaign.

"An hour of our time being cold is worth it if it encourages people to watch our videos to see the cruelty animals are experiencing in China," Byrne said. "It's horrifying what goes on behind the scenes."

The stunt attracted plenty of attention during the lunch hour. Many people (mostly male) took photos or stopped to ask the women why they were skating topless in the 42 degree weather.

"Are they actually topless?" asked one passerby. Yes, they were. They wore rabbit and fox ears, tails, leg warmers and flesh-colored bandages over their breasts.

Byrne said PETA chose Clinton Square Ice Rink because only Upstate New York rinks remain open in March. The volunteers will skate in Clinton Square until about 1:30 p.m. Clinton Square Ice Rink closes for the season on Sunday, March 15.

The Wednesday skating stunt was meant to promote PETA's investigations into the fur and leather industries in China.

Video footage from a PETA expose of China's angora industry shows workers tearing fur from rabbits' skin as the animals scream in pain.

PETA also released an expose revealing the thriving dog-leather industry in China, in which workers club dogs and peel off their skin to make women's dress gloves, belts and other products to be exported around the world.

In the U.S. and Australia--the source of 90 percent of the world's merino wool--sheep are cut, kicked and punched by shearers.

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