Nine Inch Nails

Los Angeles - Following the release of With Teeth, an album that has been called one of last year's best, Nine Inch Nails' 2005 tour sold out in 10 minutes flat. The first single, "The Hand That Feeds," is up for a Grammy, cementing Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor's status as one of the most popular musicians of our time. Trent took time out of his busy schedule to narrate peta2's latest undercover video-an exposé that reveals the abuse of cats and dogs in China's barbaric fur trade. He also autographed an iPod-with the video downloaded on it-which peta2 will award to the person who sends Reznor's video to the most people.

"Every year, millions of cats and dogs are killed for their fur," says Reznor. "[The animals'] weakened bodies are bludgeoned, hanged, bled, or strangled with wire nooses to kill them."

China-where not a single law protects animals killed for fur-has become the world's leading fur exporter. The video shows cats and dogs without food or water who've been rounded up in Beijing and other cities as they are hauled to their deaths on trucks containing as many as 8,000 live, dead, and dying animals. The cages are tossed on the ground 10 feet below, shattering the animals' bones. The fur is often deliberately mislabeled as that of other species, and because fur items sold in the United States don't require labeling unless they are valued at more than $150, fur wearers may be buying fur from cats and dogs unknowingly, which is one reason why peta2 urges consumers not to buy any fur.

"Cat and dog fur can only be identified with expensive DNA tests, so there's no way of knowing what-or whom-you are buying," says peta2 Manager Dan Shannon. "Buying anything with fur-even if it's ‘just a little trim'-supports one of the most gruesome industries on the planet."

Trent Reznor joins an ever-growing list of musicians-including The Used, Hawthorne Heights, Morrissey, and Alkaline Trio-who have teamed up with PETA's Youth Division, peta2, to inspire kids to challenge outdated, cruel attitudes about animals. The group's Web site, peta2.com features celebrity interviews, message boards, merchandise, downloadable voice-mail recordings, and chances to win concert tickets and other great prizes.

For more information and to enter the contest to win Trent's autographed iPod, please visit peta2.com.