Naked Protest by Animal Rights Activists

Naked Protest by Animal Rights Activist - About 50 animal rights activists have staged a naked protest at a square in Spain's north-eastern city of Barcelona to denounce the torture and slaying of animals to make fur coats.

Representing the number of animals that it takes to make a fur coat, the men and women, covered in red paint that resembled blood, lay down and curled up on top of one another at Sant Jaume in the historic centre of the city on Sunday.

Animal rights activists AnimaNaturalis stage a naked protest against fur in Barcelona.

"How many lives just for a coat?" read a black and white sign held by a young woman.

"People who are sensible to animal suffering see garments made from fur as acts of cruelty and pain, not as luxury items. Animals need their fur, we don't," said Leticia Olivares, a spokeswoman for international animal rights group AnimaNaturalis, which staged the demonstration.

Millions of foxes, minks, otters, beavers, lynxes and other species are raised in captivity in small cages or captured and then killed in brutal ways such as drowning or electrocution to make fur coats, the group said.

Spain , Greece, Germany and Italy are key manufacturers of fur garments, the group said. In Spain fur farms are mainly in the north of the country while the fur clothing industry is found mostly in the region of Catalonia where Barcelona is located. ( AFP )