Yoga master Iyengar asks Donna Karan to ditch rabbit fur

Celebrated Indian yoga master B.K.S. Iyengar has written to US celebrity fashion designer Donna Karan calling on her to stop using rabbit fur in her clothes, a statement said.

Ninety-two-year-old Iyengar said he was urging Karan to join other top fashion designers - including Calvin Klein, Stella McCartney, Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger - who do not use fur in their designs.

"As a yoga practitioner, may I request you, on behalf of myself and my friends from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, to take a stand against using the fur of animals that is removed by the cruelest killing methods," Iyengar said in a letter.

"Mr Iyengar uses his power and influence to help animals," said Peta spokesman Poorva Joshipura on Saturday.

A copy of Iyengar's letter to Karan was emailed to AFP by PETA India.

Iyengar, known as one of the world's foremost yoga instructors, said he was asking Karan to stop using "furs, which are violently removed from the living animals, so that those animals which have the right to live, live in peace".

Emails sent to Karan's office by AFP requesting comment received no reply.

Karan has long been the target of animal rights activists, who have disrupted her fashion shows, over the use of rabbit fur in her designs.