Animals Are Not Ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment or abuse in any other way.

PETA Australia
  • Action Centre
  • Campaigns
  • Living
  • News
  • About
  • EMAIL SIGN-UP
  • DONATE NOW
    • VANGUARD SOCIETY
    • PETA PRESENTS
    • SUPPORT OUR WORK
    • MEMBERSHIP SERVICES
    • GIFTS IN WILLS
  • EMAIL SIGN-UP
  • DONATE NOW
    • VANGUARD SOCIETY
    • PETA PRESENTS
    • SUPPORT OUR WORK
    • MEMBERSHIP SERVICES
    • GIFTS IN WILLS
  • EMAIL SIGN-UP
  • DONATE NOW
    • VANGUARD SOCIETY
    • PETA PRESENTS
    • SUPPORT OUR WORK
    • MEMBERSHIP SERVICES
    • GIFTS IN WILLS
  • Action Centre
  • Campaigns
  • Living
  • News
  • About
  • EMAIL SIGN-UP
  • DONATE NOW
    • VANGUARD SOCIETY
    • PETA PRESENTS
    • SUPPORT OUR WORK
    • MEMBERSHIP SERVICES
    • GIFTS IN WILLS
PETA Australia
  • EMAIL SIGN-UP
  • DONATE NOW
    • VANGUARD SOCIETY
    • PETA PRESENTS
    • SUPPORT OUR WORK
    • MEMBERSHIP SERVICES
    • GIFTS IN WILLS
PETA Search Icon
PETA protests outside Hermes in Sydney.
Etienne Ortovent

PETA ‘Crocodiles’ Troll Hermès Stores on Australian Tour

News / PETA ‘Crocodiles’ Troll Hermès Stores on Australian Tour
4 March 2021

Trios of “crocodiles” are protesting outside Hermès stores around Australia as the company continues with plans to build the country’s biggest crocodile farm.

Wearing crocodile masks and green bikinis, activists holding bag-shaped signs – which implored the company to “bin crocodile skin” and reminded shoppers that “animals die for exotic skins” – demonstrated outside the Hermès store in Sydney in their first of three appearances across the country.

Why three? That’s how many crocodiles it takes to make just one Hermès handbag.

PETA protests outside Hermes in Sydney.

Protests will also be held outside Hermès stores in Melbourne and Brisbane in the coming weeks.

SEE PHOTOS FROM THE PROTEST IN MELBOURNE
CHECK OUT THE VIDEO FROM BRISBANE’S PROTEST

Cruelty to Crocodiles

There’s nothing stylish about cramming sensitive animals into pits, hacking them apart, and leaving them to die – yet fashion companies like Hermès continue to expand crocodile-farming operations in Australia.

The latest proposed development would imprison up to 50,000 saltwater crocodiles in the Northern Territory. The facility would include an egg incubation laboratory, a hatchery, grower pens, finishing pens, an open farm area, refrigerated feed preparation area, and storage areas.

Every PETA exposé of the exotic-skins industry has shown that no matter the source – or the “standards” touted by brands – products made from skins involve forcing highly intelligent, sensitive animals to endure imprisonment in squalid conditions and a violent death.

From the moment they hatch, farmed crocodiles are denied everything that’s natural and important to them – confined to small concrete pens and unable to swim free. When they’re killed, their snouts are bound and they’re electrocuted or shot and then stabbed in the neck to sever their spinal cords.

crocodiles in captivity, used for the exotic skins trade.
A crocodile killed for their skin.

Crocodiles killed for their skin.

Exotic Skins and Zoonotic Diseases

Because crocodiles who are raised on farms for their skin are kept crowded together in highly unhygienic conditions – one on top of the other in pits of putrid water – conservation experts are warning that the next pandemic could come from the fashion industry.

Much like a “wet market”, where COVID-19 originated, crocodile farms create a breeding ground for many zoonotic pathogens, including salmonella, vibrio, Aeromonas spp, Pseudomonas spp, E coli, trichinella, and West Nile virus –  all of which crocodilians have been found to carry and can pass on to humans.

PETA protests outside Hermes in Sydney.

The good news is that exotic skins are falling out of favour with designers and consumers alike. Already, luxury brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Chanel, HUGO BOSS, Victoria Beckham, Vivienne Westwood, and others have ditched crocodile and other skins.

Now is the time to invest in humane, sustainable, and future-proof projects, not build new factory farms to torment animals and create a breeding ground for new pandemics. Join us in urging Hermès to shed exotic skins now:

Take Action for Crocodiles!

Please join PETA’s “Save Our Skin” Challenge right now!

Donate Now

Recent Press Hits

  • Gradient background with a white rabbit silhouette and the text ‘PETA.’
    PETA Urges Councils to Go Vegan for Climate Resilient 
  • Gradient background with a white rabbit silhouette and the text ‘PETA.’
    Pamplona 2025: What to Expect at the Running of the Bulls
  • Gradient background with a white rabbit silhouette and the text ‘PETA.’
    Exposé of Indian Laboratory Reveals Bloodied Dogs and Pigs

Get PETA Updates

Sign me up for the following e-mail:
Our collection, storage, use and disclosure of personal information is guided by the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles. More information about our privacy policies and practices is available in our privacy policy. That policy also details how you may access, seek correction of and pursue complaints regarding the personal information we hold about you. If you have any queries about these procedures or any aspect of our work, please contact us on (08) 8556 5828 or at [email protected] or write to us at PO Box 20308, World Square, Sydney NSW 2002. Current subscribers: You will continue to receive e-mails unless you explicitly opt out here.
PETA Fist Logo

Connect with PETA

  • Facebook Icon, PETA International
  • Instagram Icon, PETA International
  • Youtube Icon, PETA International

PETA International Logo

Mailing address:
PO Box 20308 World Square Sydney NSW 2002 ACN – 128209923

Info

  • Contact Us
  • Media Centre
  • Careers
  • Donate Now
  • Subscribe to E-News
  • Bequests

Services

  • Accessibility
  • Site Map
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • © 2025 PETA Australia Pty Ltd. Read our full policy.

International Sites

  • PETA US
  • PETA France
  • PETA Netherlands
  • PETA Germany
  • PETA India
  • PETA UK
  • PETA Asia
  • 亚洲善待动物组织
  • PETA Latino

PETA acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and live. We pay our respects to elders past and present and extend that respect to all other indigenous peoples.

Registered address: PETA Australia Pty Ltd, 219 Henley Beach Road, Torrensville. SA, 5031