Following in the footsteps of many influential celebrities, Vikki Lenola has gone (nearly) nude for PETA to speak up for animal rights on several occasions. Previous celebrities who have campaigned for Peta include Pamela Anderson, Eva Mendes Khloe Kardashian and Bethenny Frankel.
The Canadian model has garnered attention for PETA over the years. Her activism has led to coverage on major TV networks, the front pages of newspapers, radio stations, notable blogs, and more.
The first time Vikki campaigned for PETA was back in February 2018 in Waterloo, Ontario. Lenola stripped down to just underwear, slip-on shoes, and her body painted to look like a coyote. She sat down in freezing Canadian temperatures (-20 degrees Celsius!) with an oversized steel-jaw leg trap attached to her leg. Other protestors gathered around her to protest the traps used to catch coyotes. PETA promptly sent Miss Lenola a thank you card for withstanding the cold and campaigning for coyotes.
Her second appearance was in April of 2018 when she joined PETA to protest Canada’s commercial seal hunt. Together with a handful of other female activists, the protest took over one of the busiest intersections in North America: Toronto’s Yonge and Dundas. Statistics show that the commercial seal hunt leaves 95% of the meat wasted and left to rot. After public outrage over the years, the European Union has banned seal import, as have 35 countries. Lenola has pointed out on social media that it’s imperative to know that the protest was strictly about the commercial seal hunt, not the Inuit hunt, which is different. The Inuit hunt is not wasteful, and they do not kill infant seals.
Her third appearance was in December of 2018, fighting for the unfair treatment of coyotes. Miss Lenola was body painted as a coyote and protested outside Saks Fifth Avenue in downtown Toronto. Dozens of her activists joined her in protest. Another model joined Vikki as a body painted coyote this time, and together they held up signs with heavy metal chains hanging from their wrists. The chains symbolized the chains that are left on coyotes for several days at a time. Lenola continued to lead eight protests throughout the Winter of 2018.
Most recently, Vikki wore a PETA mask (and nothing else) on her Instagram which read, “Meat markets are breeding grounds for disease. Go vegan.” This time she raised awareness solo while in quarantine during the current Covid-19 pandemic. Her caption quoted Bill Maher, saying “if we keep producing food the way we do, you’re going to get sick with something medicine cannot fix.”
There has been a lot of change in the causes she has protested against. Most notably, on Earth Day Canada Goose announced they will stop killing coyotes beginning in 2022 and plan to use recycled fur instead.
PETA has also stopped doing their “rather go naked than wear fur” campaign with celebrities, because the battle has seemingly been won! In America, for example, cities and states, including California, have banned new fur. Countries around the world are banning fur farms. Top designers have been banning fur in recent years, including Versace, Michael Kors, Gucci, Chanel, Armani, Burberry, Jean-Paul Gaultier, John Galliano, and more.
You can support PETA at www.peta.org