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Undercover footage taken by Farm Transparency Project reveals shocking abuses at three crocodile factory farms in Australia owned by Hermès. Upon release of the footage, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) staged provocative protests at Hermès stores in New York City, London and Paris to call on the company to replace crocodile skin with cruelty-free fabrics for their handbags.

Australia accounts for 60% of the global trade of crocodile skins. Crocodiles, who have a natural lifespan of 70 years, are slaughtered by Hermès when they are just 2-3  years old. Birkin bags, which are made from the skins of four crocodiles, sell for tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars at Hermès stores.

Hermès slaughters four crocodiles to produce one Birkin bag

Kindness Project, an Australian animal rights organization that released the Transparency Project footage, has launched a campaign to shut down Australia’s commercial crocodile farms and transition the workers into other jobs. “With so many sustainable and animal friendly alternatives available, there is no need for fashion houses to harm animals in the production of their clothing and accessories. We are asking for an end to Hermès crocodile cruelty, demanding they #dropcroc from their collections, in favor of protecting precious wildlife from cruelty and suffering.”

According to PETA, Hermès is planning to build what would be Australia’s largest crocodile farm, which would hold up to 50,000 individuals. Previous PETA investigations have shown workers shooting reptiles in the head; cutting into their bodies as they struggle to escape; and stabbing still-conscious animals in an effort to dislocate their vertebrae. They also show reptiles moving their legs and tails several minutes after these slaughter attempts. “No purse is worth an animal’s agonizing death,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is calling on Hermès to listen to the outcry against cruelty to crocodiles and bag exotic skins.”

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) staged a protest at Hermès in NYC after Kindness Project released undercover video footage of crocodile abuse at the company’s crocodile factory farms in Australia.

UPDATE: On July 24th, one month after PETA released video showing crocodiles and alligators used to make Birkin bags being tortured, British singer Jane Birkin has asked Hermès to remove her name from the line of handbags: “Having been alerted to the cruel practices reserved for crocodiles during their slaughter to make Hermes handbags carrying my name… I have asked Hermès to debaptise the Birkin Croco until better practices in line with international norms can be put in place.”

In 2001, a NY Times fashion writer reported that Jessica Seinfeld, the wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld, attempted to use her famous last name at an Hermès store to jump to the front of a waiting list for a Birkin Bag, a purse regarded by many as the ultimate status symbol. Ms. Seinfeld, exasperated by negative stories written about her in gossip columns, denied the allegations in subsequent media coverage. Lost in the celebrity scandal were the real victims: the alligators and crocodiles who are raised and slaughtered in concrete factories to make the purses.

Reality star Kris Jenner wears Hermes purse made from alligator skin (photo: purseblog.com)

In 2014, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sent undercover investigators into factories in Zimbabwe and Texas that supply Hermes with their crocodiles and alligators. Video footage shows employees cutting into their bodies while they are fully conscious, sawing into the back of their necks with a box cutter to sever their blood vessels and stabbing them in an attempt to dislocate their vertebrae during the drawn-out slaughter process. Investigators documented crocodiles bleeding out and writhing in agony for several minutes.

The undercover investigation also revealed the conditions in which the alligators and crocodiles are housed. In the wild, these intelligent animals raise their young, use tools to capture their prey and live for decades, often longer than humans. On factory farms, the crocodiles are intensively confined in concrete pits, forced to live in pools of their own excrement and denied the chance to do anything that comes naturally to them. They are slaughtered after just one year.

Crocodiles at Hermes crocodile skin supplier live in excrement-filled concrete pits

Hermes’ crocodile factory farm in Zimbabwe

Hermès suppliers slaughter up to four alligators to make just one Birkin bag. The skins are also used to make watchbands, belts, shoes and other accessories.

Alligator: before & after

In a statement included in the NY Times story about the PETA investigation, Hermès defends its products and expresses no remorse about the brutality exposed in the video.

In Texas, the Chambers County District Attorney is conducting an investigation at Lone Star Alligator Farms.

Crocodiles intensively confined at Hermès supplier in Zimbabwe

The alligators sold by Hermès are subjected to unspeakable atrocities on their journey to becoming a purse. Please sign letter asking Hermes to stop selling items made from crocodile and alligator skins.

Up to 4 alligators must be slaughtered to make one Hermès Birkin Bag