I know this a bonobo blog, but I saw this yesterday and was really upset- Neiman Marcus is selling ocelot trimmed boots!
Ocelots are an endangered species and the exact same principle applies to ocelots as buying and selling bonobos.
Please, everyone, send an email to Neiman Marcus:
TO: Neiman Marcus Customer Service
Via e-mail: neimanmarcus@customercare.neimanmarcus.com
Recently I learned that you are now selling footwear in your stores
and on your Web site made with the fur of ocelots. I'm sure you know
that ocelots are a highly endangered species but still live in areas
stretching from Arizona through Central America and South America. It
is illegal to own, purchase or sell an ocelot -or its skin - in the
United States. Unfortunately, an international trade rages across the
globe, including the sale of live ocelots to unscrupulous breeders and
roadside zoo owners. According to the San Diego Zoo, there may be as
few as 100 ocelots left in the wild in the United States.
Even if ocelots are bred in Italy, such breeding promotes killing an
endangered species for fashion and sends a negative message to people
in countries who are trying to conserve them, i.e., how can you expect
hunters in Central America not to kill and butcher ocelots when they
can point to Neiman Marcus and say "Why should we conserve them, when
you in the U.S. are killing them and using them for fashion?" They
wonder why an animal that is so endangered is showing up on footwear
at a major American retailer.
Please stop buying and selling clothing made from the skins of
endangered animals in your stores. I have a lot of choices before me
when I shop, and I will not choose Neiman Marcus as long as this
practice continues.
Sincerely,
