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NEW YORK, NY — After a two-year undercover investigation of 70 rabbit farms in Spain, Last Chance for Animals (LCA) has evidence linking U.S. designers Marc Jacobs and Diane Von Furstenberg, as well as international designers Burberry, Dior, Armani, Yves Saint Laurent and Louis Vuitton, with cruelty to animals.

A joint investigative effort of animal rights organizations LCA and Animal Equality, was published as Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week ramps up in New York City, this investigation into the fur industry turned up widespread abuse, such as:

» Farm workers callously bashing sick rabbits to death

» Crippled, diseased and severely wounded rabbits left to suffer with no medical treatment

» Rabbits forced to live in small, crowded cages with hard metal bars for floors

» Rabbits clubbed in the head or smashed into the ground, then strung up and skinned

» Rabbits only allowed to live 2 years, whereas they naturally live up to 12 years

“Unfortunately, this is not the first time investigators have filmed rampant abuse on fur farms,” said Sharon Nunez, executive director of LCA. “Whether in Finland, China or Spain, the fur industry is always associated with cruelty.”

On hidden camera, representatives from two distribution companies — Francisco Cuberes Escola, owner of fur distributor Curticub, and Lidia Nogue of fur distributor Galaico Catalana — stated that the designers named above buy fur from the investigated farms.

“In the U.S. they use a lot of rabbit fur,” said Nogue (translated from Spanish). “A lot of important American brands use rabbit fur.”

“All the top names — Armani, Yves Saint Laurent — all of them buy from us,” said Escola (also translated from Spanish).

LCA and Animal Equality have created a website, EndFashionCruelty.org, which contains video of the brutality as well as footage of the distributors revealing their client lists. The site also contains a petition to send to the companies named, urging them to stop selling fur.

Last Chance for Animals is an international animal advocacy organization that conducts undercover investigations and launches public awareness campaigns to expose animal cruelty. LCA’s Special Investigations Unit travels the world to document abuse in research labs, puppy mills, factory farms and the entertainment industry. For more information, visit www.LCAnimal.org