P.E.T.A., no comment

(Santa Fe, NM) Two shapely young women wearing nothing but body paint and black panties stood shivering on the Plaza for an hour Monday to encourage holiday shoppers to shun fur.
The women ?- Micah Risk of Virginia and Erin Maupin of Arizona, both 21 ?- are volunteers for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
With only a paper banner reading "HAPPY FURFREE HOLIDAYS" to shield them from the cold, the pair ?- whose bodies where painted yellow and black like leopards ?- created a minor stir among Plaza-goers , many of whom whipped out cameras or cell phones to photograph the "Leopard Ladies."
Ian Blessing, a PETA organizer who was traveling with the women and handing out leaflets about the ways animals suffer when their fur is harvested for clothing, said the women originally planned to be completely naked for the demonstration, but the Santa Fe Police Department warned them Sunday that the women could be charged with a fourth- degree felony if they were seen naked by children.

Santa Fe Police Chief Beverly Lennen, Deputy Chief Eric Johnson and about four other officers attended the event. Several newspaper and television crews, a half-dozen city employees and a handful of workers from Plaza-area businesses also gathered to gawk and watch goose bumps pop up on the girls.

The duo didn't encounter any fur wearers during their hourlong demonstration, but they did get encouraging remarks from several people, including one man who said, "This is a public service. You guys are doing a great job attracting people to the Plaza."

"I don't like the idea of animals being used to decorate the body," said Irene Pfeffer, an elderly woman who sat on a bench near the leopard-printpainted women. "If I had the figure for it, I'd get naked, too."

Pfeffer was wearing a long faux fur she'd gotten from her sister who lives in the Bronx in New York City.

One man with a camera asked the women to pose sticking their sticking tongues out at Pfeffer.

After consulting with Blessing , they declined.

"It's fake," Blessing said. "Plus, we don't stick our tongues out at people wearing fur. We just say, ?'Buy something synthetic' and ask them to check out our Web site, http://furisdead.com."

Risk is studying communityhealth education at Virginia Commonwealth University. She won PETA's Sexiest Vegetarian Alive contest earlier this year and said she's been involved with PETA for about four years.

Maupin, who is studying nonprofit management at Arizona State University, said a dream she had about visiting a fur farm prompted her to get involved in PETA two years ago. Both women said they don't eat or wear anything that comes from animals.

PETA has been staging "Leopard Ladies" demonstrations for about five years, but Monday's event was the first time Risk and Maupin had participated. The Leopard Ladies next head to Arizona for appearances next week in Flagstaff, Phoenix and Tucson.

Maupin admitted being nearly naked in public and in the cold was a tough assignment , but also worth it. "It's nothing compared to what the animals go through," she said.