HYNDE IN GAP FLAP

Pretenders lead singer Chrissie Hynde and several supporters of the animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) were arrested on Thursday (3/9) in New York for protesting at a Gap clothing store for the store's selling leather jackets made from 'illegally and cruelly' slaughtered cows in India, where cattle are sacred.

Hynde found out about the practice when the nationwide chain asked her to appear in a commercial for the Gap jackets, which bear the "Made in India," even though the store insisted the labels did not mean the leather was from India. The singer ripped up a Gap jacket as part of the protest and then treated everyone to Big Macs.

"India is the largest exporter of leather in the world, so it seems highly unlikely the Gap buys its leather from America, where the slaughterhouse practices are considered humane and legal, and send the leather to India, stitch up the jacket and send it back to America," she said, showing her own neat Republican cloth coat.

PETA director Dan Matthews claimed the Gap bought its leather "from a black market... where's it's illegal to kill cows."

The clothing chain issued a statement that the company shared concerns "about the humane treatment of animals," adding that they bought "their finished goods from apparel factories." Added a Gap spokesman: "We're offering a free hooded polyester hooded sweatshirt to the first 25 cows that come into the store."