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May 21, 2009

Look, But Don't Skin

Snake A group of PETA activists — including one nearly-naked woman covered in snakeskin body paint — descended on Burlington today to protest exotic animal skinning.

Camouflaged against a jungle background that read "Exotic Skins Belong in the Jungle — Not on Your Feet" this "naked PETA beauty" hoped to embody the snakes and other species often subjected to live skinnings or beatings.

PETA reports that snakes, in particular, have had their heads nailed to trees and skinned while still alive.

Jena Hunt, PETA campaign coordinator of international grassroots campaigns, told local media — me, a woman from the Free Press's BSCENE, and a cameraman from WPTZ — that anyone with a companion animal should be able to empathize with these vulnerable animals.

"We're asking Burlington residents to take a bite out of cruelty by giving snakeskin and other exotic leather the boot," says Hunt, originally from San Francisco.

Hunt favors these "sexy," or "naked" protests because she says they open up effective dialogue with the public.

Of course not everyone sees eye-to-eye with PETA, like the local motorcyclist who drove by the demonstration on Main Street yelling "PETA sucks," a comment which Hunt acknowledged with a simple smile.

I think the body paint and panties is a bit wussy. I'll go full-on tits out for animal rights any day of the week.

Mike was in the Freeps today -- he's the guy in the middle of Emily Nelson's picture on page 7B. Not the one with the beer gut, the other one.

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