PETA Protesters Crash Donna Karen's Fashion Show

The fur was flying at Donna Karan's fashion show in Bryant Park this morning, as PETA members leaped onto the catwalk waving signs that read, Donna: Dump Fur, in protest of the designer's use of rabbit fur in her collection- despite having given her word that she would never use fur again. Chanting, "Shame," the protesters were dragged off the stage, ejected from the show and arrested.

PETA, which has held protests outside Karan's fashion shows, office, and apartment, has stepped up its campaign after Karan refused to watch a videotape showing rabbits being cruelly killed for their pelts. PETA has also written to Karan to explain that animals on fur factory farms spend their entire lives confined to tiny, filthy metal cages with no shelter from weather extremes. PETA also told Karan that to kill rabbits, fur farmers break the animals' necks or smash their skulls before stringing them up by their legs, cutting off their heads, and skinning them.

Many top fashion designers-including Calvin Klein, Stella McCartney,
Ralph Lauren, and Tommy Hilfiger-are 100 percent fur-free after discussions with PETA.

"Donna Karan is a cold and soulless woman who turns her back on animals to turn a buck," says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. "Animals killed for Donna Karan's designs either had their necks broken or were electrocuted, beaten to death, or skinned alive."

For more information, go to PETA's Web site FurIsDead.com