Snakes on a Train

[marmar]

from the Boston Herald, via MassTransitMag:


April 01--Don't be frightened if you see snakes on a train -- Penelope and her offspring haven't gotten loose on the T again -- it's just the handiwork of PETA, which hopes to expose Hub straphangers to the "cold-blooded horrors" of the exotic skin trade.

PETA president Ingrid Newkirk told the Herald her international animal rights group is petitioning the MBTA to purchase a week-long ad -- in the form of realistic, rubber snakes coiled around a subway car's straps and poles -- in an effort to call attention to the suffering of snakes, alligators, crocodiles and lizards used to make fashion accessories.

"We thought the T would be the perfect place to launch our campaign, and the Massachusetts member who suggested it had indeed read the story of Penelope," Newkirk said, referring to the 3-foot-long pet boa that escaped from its owner last winter and spent a month riding the Red Line before being found. "I'm hoping the transit authority will say yes. ... Stranger things have happened."

PETA, known for dousing fashion show catwalks with red paint and for posing supermodels and celebrities naked to promote its anti-fur crusades, faxed a letter Friday to the MBTA asking about placing the serpentine advertisements on a subway car. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.masstransitmag.com/news/10686528/ma-peta-looking-to-put-snakes-on-a-train