Pretender-turned-offender Chrissie Hynde is back off the chain gang.
A Manhattan judge agreed yesterday to dismiss misdemeanor criminal mischief charges against the lead singer for The Pretenders – busted in March for a Midtown animal rights protest.
Hynde had faced up to a year in jail for admittedly attacking a leather clothing display at a Rockefeller Center Gap store, claiming the cows were treated cruelly.
The charges against the London-based Hynde, 48, and three other activists from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals will go away if they stay out of trouble for six months.
“The next time you buy a leather product and it’s cheap, consider where it comes from,” Hynde said after her court appearance as she condemned India and China for selling cheap but cruelly processed leather.
“And consider looking this fantastic without leather,” the denim-clad singer joked – referring to herself.
Of her day in jail after her March 9 arrest, Hynde said, “Being locked up for any reason is undesirable – for man and beast.”
But she didn’t rule out ever being cruel to an animal.
“There is one exception,” she said. “If an animal’s trying to kill me, I think that’s a negotiable deal there.”