Amanda Beard Poses Naked for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
BEIJINGÂ (RUSHPRNEWS) AUGUST 15, 2008— We’re used to seeing her perfectly toned form in a body-hugging swimsuit, but now, sultry Olympic gold medalist Amanda Beard appears in only her birthday suit on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). In the new ad, Beard appears next to the tagline “Be Comfortable in Your Own Skin. Don’t Wear Fur.”
The two-time Olympic gold medalist and U.S. team captain will unveil the ad just days before the start of the Beijing Games, her fourth Olympics.
“[T]o see animals … slaughtered to be worn as fashion is awful to me, so I’m definitely against wearing fur,” says Beard, who at age 14 won two silver medals and one gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics before winning gold again in Greece. Asked if she had any reservations about posing nude in order to bare the truth about the fur industry, Beard offered a resounding “No.” “I’d much rather go naked than ever put a dead animal on my body,” she says.
Beard and PETA want everyone to stop and think about animals on fur farms, who spend their entire lives in tiny, filthy cages and suffer grave physical and mental distress before they are killed by poisoning, gassing, neck-breaking, or anal or vaginal electrocution. In China–the world’s leading fur exporter–animals on fur farms are commonly skinned alive, sometimes while they are still conscious.
For more information, please visit FurIsDead.com.
This undated handout photo received by environmental group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on August 6, 2008 shows US gold medal winning swimmer Amanda Beard posing for a promotional campaign against the use of fur.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist and US team captain unveils the ad on August 6, 2008 in Beijing – two days before the start of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
 Contact:
Joanna Virello 757-622-7382
