Courtesy of the Greater Fur New York Association, the following is a new column containing some of Hollywood's and the world's biggest animal rights hypocrites. For their unwavering support of PETA (People for the ethical Treatment of Animals), these celebrities parade naked or protest the wearing of fur. They also ignore this extremist animal rights group's agenda of the total elimination of animal use.

(First of all, I apologize for the delay in bringing you this article. I meant to do the follow-up a few weeks ago, but due to the ineffectiveness of all animal rights groups in their battle against the fur industry, I've been too busy selling and repairing fur coats to write this column.)

This column's hypocrites are:

Part I - By Steve Cowit
Mary Tyler Moore . . . she tops the list by donating her $100,000 sable coat to PETA and drooling over the mating rituals of lobsters. She stays alive only because of medical research on animals; she's a diabetic. She makes no bones about her hypocrisy. She has stated that, "If it were my child whose life could be saved, I'd probably sacrifice my fellow man, as well, to rescue him, let alone an animal."

Linda McCartney . . . she is a major animal rights supporter who promotes vegetarian meals and makes her husband stuff animal rights propaganda down his fans' throats at his concerts. Unfortunately, she just had breast cancer surgery. Fortunately, she didn't refuse the life-saving surgery that was derived from animal research and experimentation.

Alec Baldwin . . . he slaps around carriage horse drivers and photographers, and his wife poses nude for PETA, yet they show up at his mother's breast cancer charity event. And he wears the red ribbon for AIDS awareness.

Woody Harrelson . . . he's a PETAphile who protests against the killing of animals. He just stars in movies -- like Natural Born Killers -- where he seems to enjoy killing human beings.

Claudia Schiffer . . . she won't model furs anymore, but she looked great in those leather pants she wore the other day.

Celebrities aren't consistent with PETA's extreme agenda, yet they're welcomed with open arms by the group's top echelon. The word is hypocrisy. It's a shame that the press and public accept the rhetoric of these hypocrites just because they think that they're on top of the world.

Steve Cowit is treasurer of the Greater Fur New York Association. He works for his family-owned company, Henry Cowit Inc., New York City.


Part 2
Ricki Lake...She ate bologna sandwiches and wanted to squish the bugs in her jail cell after being arrested in a protest against fur at designer Karl Lagerfeld's offices.

Naomi Campbell . . . She posed naked against fur but models leather, offers animal products in her new restaurant and appears in milk advertisements.

Todd Oldham . . . He opposes the wearing of fur but uses silk and leather in his fashion designs. It's not okay to kill a mink, but a cow and silkworm are okay, Todd?

Melissa Etheridge . . . She'd also rather go naked than wear fur, but when she performs, she's covered head to toe in leather.

All PETAphiles who wear the red ribbons supporting AIDS research...Ingrid Newkirk, leader of PETA, has said, "We'd be against animal research even if it resulted in a cure for AIDS." (Vogue)

All these celebrities go against PETA's extreme agenda, yet they're welcomed with open arms by PETA's top echelon.

The word is hypocrisy.