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Oscar-winner Charlize Theron makes fur fly for animal rights.

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Oscar-winning South African star Charlize Theron is making fur fly in Hollywood by joining a campaign against the use of animal pelts in fashion. 

The 29-year-old star, who picked up the best actress Oscar earlier this year for her role as a serial killer in "Monster," will soon star in a billboard advertisement slamming the animal cruelty caused by the fur industry.

"If You Wouldn't Wear Your Dog, Please Don't Wear Any Fur," reads the billboard that is plastered over a huge photograph of the blond beauty hugging her pet pooch, Tucker.

Theron has joined a long-running campaign against furs waged by animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which picked Theron in a drive to persuade other celebrities that fur is best left on its original owners.

"It doesn't make sense to me to let animals suffer for fashion," Theron said, crediting her love for animals to her upbringing on a South African farm.

PETA releases an annual list of the best and worst dressed celebrities based on whether or not they wear furs.

This year, pop diva Diana Ross and embattled domestic guru Martha Stewart (news - web sites) were at the top of PETA's list of shame, Ross for having "stooped to taking free furs in exchange for modelling" for celebrity designer Dennis Basso, and Stewart for wearing a chinchilla fur scarf in public.