Fur-Free Friday: The Plight of Animals "Farmed For Fashion"
From All-Creatures.org Animal Rights/Vegan Activist Strategies Articles Archive

FROM Marc Bekoff, Psychology Today/Animal Emotions
November 2020

In 1985, two activist groups, Trans Species Unlimited (TSU) and the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade (CAFT), coordinated the first, non-violent civil disobedience activities protesting fur at Macy’s in New York and in Sacramento, California. Although the protests were non-violent, there were several dozen arrests. The following year, TSU repeated the activities on the Friday after Thanksgiving, widely known as the busiest shopping day of the year, and "Fur-Free Friday" was officially created.

Fur-Free Friday provides grassroots activists with an opportunity to participate in coordinated non-violent direct-action campaigns, similar to the sit-ins of the civil rights movement.

American mink - source: jandenouden, Pixabay free download

Farming nonhuman animals (animals) for fashion is incredibly abusive, and the world knows far more about this practice because of recent headlines about the plight of farmed mink in Denmark who were killed because of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. They are not the only fur-bearing animal beings who are raised solely to clothe humans and who suffer from the horrific ways in which they're mistreated. Since April 2020, there have been outbreaks of COVID-19 on mink farms in seven countries, and over 200 people in Europe have become sick with mink-related strains of the illness. Also, as New Scientist writer Graham Lawton warns, mink could be just the start and this is bad news for all involved.

Who (not what) we choose to wear is an ethical choice, and we don't have to wear animals' skins. Globally, many companies are going fur-free, but there's still a lot of work to do to end fur-farming.

Friday November 27 is Fur-Free Friday and I'm pleased to offer this interview with Chris DeRose, founder of Last Chance for Animals (LCA) and recipient of the 1997 Courage of Conscience International Peace Award, about this event....

 

Please read THE ENTIRE INTERIVEW HERE (PDF)

Fox Farm, Poland - Photo by Andrew Skowron

Fur farm - Photo by Andrew Skowron

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