Guess it wasn't faux: Celebrity fur-wearer Catherine Zeta-Jones tops PETA's Worst-Dressed List

Catherine Zeta-Jones may be just about the prettiest thing on two legs, but she's far from friendly to the four-legged set, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The ever-vocal animal rights group has placed Zeta-Jones at the top of its annual Worst-Dressed List with the explanation that her "creepy cow-skin pants, ugly fox coat and icky alligator bag" make the actress look "like she's working her way through Noah's ark with a knife."

Although Zeta-Jones nabbed the Worst-Dressed title, a number of other stars were hot on her heels. Also on PETA's list were perennial fur-wearer Jennifer Lopez ("She looks like Jenny from the butcher block in her old-school corpse coats," the group complains), Aretha Franklin (whose so-called "fur Snuggie" rivaled even her Inauguration Day hat in the audacity department), Rihanna, Jessica Simpson and mother-daughter fur-wearers Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson. (Also called on the carpet by PETA was a "Real Housewives" star that, frankly, we've never heard of.)

PETA is planning to stage an anti-fur demonstration outside the Broadway theater where Zeta-Jones is performing in "A Little Night Music" before Saturday's matinee, according to Access Hollywood.

Celebrities previously named on PETA's Worst-Dressed List include Madonna, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and Kanye West.

-- Lindsay Barnett

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Photo: Zeta-Jones attends a party Dec. 13. Credit: Neilson Barnard / Getty Images

Dead animals help living animals: Donated fur coats, hats and trim make cozy nests for rescued wildlife

Got a fur coat gathering dust? The Humane Society suggests the ultimate recycling -- putting it on the backs of other animals.

The Coats for Cubs program by the Humane Society of the United States helps orphaned, injured or sick wildlife by gathering fur coats and using them for nests, bedding or cuddly replacements for mom and dad. In 2009, 2,687 fur items were donated.

"We use the discarded furs as bedding to give the animals comfort and reduce stress," said Michael Markarian, the agency's chief operating officer in Washington, D.C. "The fur garments act as a surrogate mother. It is a warm and furry substitute."

The coats go to wildlife rehabilitation centers that take in baby raccoons, chipmunks, squirrels, coyotes, skunks and other animals. The program has helped thousands of animals since it began in 2005 with the Fund for Animals.

Markarian said many of the coats were donated by people who find fur to be inhumane, regardless of whether the animals were trapped in steel-jawed traps or raised on factory farms. For those who have fur and no longer want to wear it, "This is a great way for them to give back to the animals," he said.

PETA pulls unauthorized anti-fur ad featuring Michelle Obama, asks White House to demand name change for circus elephant named for the president

The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said Tuesday it is pulling an ad campaign that used the likeness of First Lady Michelle Obama without her permission.

At the same time, PETA is urging the White House to take a stand against another unauthorized use -- the debut last week of the Ringling Bros. circus' newest performing elephant, "Baby Barack."

PETA said it used photos of Michelle Obama in an anti-fur campaign because the first lady does not wear fur. But they never received authorization to use her image.

Michael McGraw, a PETA spokesman, said the decision to pull the Michelle Obama ad campaign, which also featured Oprah Winfrey, Carrie Underwood and Tyra Banks, was "to show good faith."

In PETA's view, the use of the Obama name by the circus is far more disturbing. In a letter Tuesday to the president, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk urges the White House to demand a name change for Baby Barack.

"'Baby Barack' is not even a year old, but his curious and energetic childhood has been cut tragically short while Ringling attempts to profit from your popularity by putting him on the road to perform in the circus," Newkirk wrote.

Fur-free, fabulous and fuming: White House objects to PETA's image of Michelle Obama in new anti-fur ad

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals certainly meant it as a compliment when the group called First Lady Michelle Obama "Fur-Free and Fabulous" in its latest ad campaign. But the group's intentions apparently don't matter much to the White House, which says Mrs. Obama's image was used by PETA without her permission. 

The ad, which features the first lady alongside Oprah Winfrey, Tyra Banks and Carrie Underwood -- all famous women who have refused to wear real fur -- was rolled out by PETA last week and can be seen, so far, at Washington, D.C.-area Metro stations and on the group's website. 

"By rejecting fur, these style icons demonstrate to the world that fur is old-fashioned and cruel," PETA senior vice president Dan Mathews said by way of an introduction for the new ad campaign. PETA co-founder and president Ingrid Newkirk told the Associated Press that the group wouldn't have attempted to get Mrs. Obama's consent to use her image because it knows she would be unable to make such an endorsement.

Tim Gunn, Ellen DeGeneres named PETA's people of the year for 2009

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has named Tim Gunn and Ellen DeGeneres its Man and Woman of the Year for their animal-friendly stances on issues like veganism and fur in fashion.

Gunn, whose hit show "Project Runway" is fur-free, is so emphatic about his anti-fur stance that he narrated a video for PETA detailing the abuses suffered by animals killed in the name of fashion.  DeGeneres -- who with wife Portia de Rossi received the Humane Society of the United States' Wyler Award earlier this year for their efforts on behalf of last year's Proposition 2 ballot initiative -- has used her popular talk show as a platform to discuss issues like factory farming and veganism since giving up animal products in 2008.

The group's people of the year "show us that one person really can make a difference in the world by rejecting cruel deeds in favor of compassionate acts," PETA co-founder and president Ingrid Newkirk said.  "Their message that animals must be treated kindly and respectfully has reached scores of people, and many of them have changed their buying habits, all because Gunn and DeGeneres spoke up for the voiceless."

Fashion guru Tim Gunn talks fur (specifically, what's wrong with it)

Our esteemed colleague and Unleashed contributor Patt Morrison caught up recently with Tim Gunn, the main man behind the popular fashion-themed reality show "Project Runway." Gunn expanded on the issue of fur in fashion (like any good fashion expert, he's against it; he's even narrated an anti-fur video for PETA) for The Times' All the Rage blog. Here's an excerpt:

Patt Morrison: Do we have you to thank for the fact that there is no fur in the challenges?

Tim Gunn: Yes, thank you! I was called a fool when I was chair of fashion at Parsons and I invited PETA to speak to students. The industry went crazy. I said: "Wait a minute. The International Fur Trade Commission is coming here. I have a responsibility to bring another point of view, let the students decide." I would say if you're going to use fur, you have a responsibility to know its origins. At Liz Claiborne, every brand is now fur-free. A woman assaulted me verbally for my fur position. She said one of [her] favorite items is a mink coat, and that furthermore, it's sheared mink, so people wouldn't even know it's fur. I said: "Then you have even less of an excuse. Sheared fur looks like velvet. You could wear a velvet coat." I'm also not a great fan of faux fur that looks real -- I'd much rather have it look fake.

And yet every few seasons, including this one, you thumb through the fashion mags, and there's fur, fur, fur. PETA's chic, no-fur celebrity messages can't compete -- they can't afford to make the same splash that huge, rich fashion brands can, and it's the latter that drive buying habits. I won't say ''taste'' because it isn't tasteful.

There's no reason to kill animals for fur. Wearing fur is like wearing a big sign reading, ''I'm in favor of inflicting cruelty and pain on animals as a fashion statement.'' Unspeakable torture is inflicted on dogs, cats, bunnies, raccoons, foxes, minks and myriad trapped, helpless creatures in the name of fashion -- yes, dogs and cats.

THERE'S MORE; READ THE REST.

Photo credit: F. Scott Schafer / Bravo

PETA's latest anti-fur celebrity spokesmodels: Atlanta Falcons star Tony Gonzalez and his wife, October

PETA certainly has its issues with certain NFL stars who shall remain nameless. But one major sports star -- who just so happens to play for that nameless player's former team, the Atlanta Falcons -- is certainly in the animal-rights group's good graces.

Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez and his wife, October, are just the latest celebrities to pose for PETA; their anti-fur ad, in which they're covered up (just barely) by the tagline "We'd rather go naked than wear fur," was released recently to considerable fanfare. (For the record, Gonzalez told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the two "had clothes on" during the photo shoot -- but if that's the case, the clothes were certainly skimpy.)

"We should be protecting animals, not sacrificing their lives for the sake of fashion or luxury," Gonzalez explained of the couple's motivation to work with PETA. "October and I have changed many of our habits in light of the inhumane treatment of animals that occurs not only in the fur industry but also on factory farms." (Gonzalez was briefly vegan, but told the Associated Press that he reintroduced some animal products to his diet after he lost more weight than he intended. "I eat a little meat now, but it comes from clean sources: grass-fed cows, free-range chickens, wild fish, stuff like that," he said. "I'm OK with it as long as you do it humanely.")

Designer Karl Lagerfeld defends his use of fur

Designer Karl Lagerfeld of Chanel is incurring the wrath of animal activists once again with his statements to the Telegraph defending his use of fur in his designs. 

Although Lagerfeld said he doesn't personally wear fur, he told the Telegraph:

"In a meat-eating world, wearing leather for shoes and clothes and even handbags, the discussion of fur is childish."

The designer was quoted as saying that hunters who have learned no other skills depend on the fur industry to make a living and that they are "killing those beasts who would kill us if they could."

A PETA spokesperson responded to Lagerfeld's statements:

"The vast majority of fur these days comes not from hunters as he suggests, but from Chinese fur farms, where no law protects the millions of animals who are routinely beaten and skinned alive.

"Lagerfeld’s childish refusal to acknowledge the needless suffering behind every piece of fur and listen to public opinion means that he is being overtaken in the style stakes by an increasing number of designers who believe that cruelty has no place in fashion."

(PETA's "Fur Is Dead" campaign quotes a 2006 International Fur Federation article that stated that 85% of animals killed for their fur are raised on factory farms.)