It's a Jungle out There
By ERIC S. PAGE
Updated 8:54 PM CDT, Mon, Apr 27, 2009
What's yellow and green all over? A nearly nude "spokesmodel" undressed in the name of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
L.A. resident Meggan Anderson took off lots of clothes at the intersection of 4th Avenue and Broadway in San Diego at noon, where the organization of animal activists has scheduled these sorts of events in the past. This time, PETA was trying to draw attention to the fact that snakes, alligators and kangaroos are "skinned alive, beaten to death or killed for their skins in other cruel ways."
Anderson, who PETA claimed would be naked but was decidedly not, was painted to look like a reptile. We guess. Mostly she looked like a cold, redheaded animal lover with too many earrings. And how did PETA talk the former San Diego resident into the gig?
"I volunteered," Anderson volunteered. "It's something I believe in very strongly."
According to PETA, "Snakes are commonly nailed to trees or posts and skinned alive. Their mutilated bodies are discarded, and it sometimes takes hours for them to die. Alligators are often crammed into tiny spaces on factory farms and are beaten to death with hammers or axes."
Put that way, it doesn't seem pleasant at all.
"I'll gladly bare some of my skin if it will help save animals' skins," PETA spokeswoman Jena Hunt -- who actually wore a black T-shirt and skirt to the event -- said in a news release. "We're asking San Diego residents to take a bite out of cruelty by giving snakeskin and other exotic leather the boot."
While some passers-by were sympathetic, one man walking by was in a different camp.
"What does PETA stand for?" he asked the downtown lunch crowd. "People Eating Tasty Animals."
First Published: Apr 27, 2009 5:08 PM CDT on NBC San Diego
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