In Defense of Animals (IDA), other organizations, and grassroots activists united for Fur Free Friday protests on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. A tradition that began twenty-nine years ago has grown into the world’s largest annual animal rights demonstration. Animal advocates urged consumers to shop cruelty-free by avoiding fur and fur-trimmed items as the California Fish and Game Commission ban on the trapping of bobcats for fur went into effect, a historic anti-fur victory!

This year, IDA coordinated Fur Free Friday events in Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, which included protests and marches. In Portland, over fifty activists distributed hundreds of leaflets to holiday shoppers, increasing awareness about animal abuse on fur farms. In Los Angeles, hundreds of activists attended three protests, sending a clear anti-fur message to local shoppers. Fur Free Friday San Francisco was bustling this year on the plaza at Union Square. Amid thousands of shoppers, IDA activists handed out hundreds of leaflets, talked with shoppers about the horrors of the fur industry, and marched with Direct Action Everywhere through the city’s busiest shopping district, calling on stores to stop selling fur and shoppers to stop buying it.

Eighty-five percent of the fur industry’s skins come from animals on “fur farms.” Rabbits, foxes, mink, chinchillas, and other animals on fur farms spend their entire short lives in tiny, filthy wire cages, until they are killed by bludgeoning, neck-breaking, or anal or vaginal electrocution. The anguish and frustration of life in a cage leads animals on fur farms to self-mutilate, biting at their skin, tails, and feet. Many animals frantically pace and circle endlessly, and some even cannibalize their cage mates.

Trappers kill millions of raccoons, coyotes, wolves, bobcats, and other fur-bearing animals every year for the clothing industry. Trapped animals can die from blood loss, infection, gangrene, predators, or hunters. To kill the animals without damaging their fur, trappers strangle, beat, or stomp them to death. Some trapped animals chew off their own limbs attempting to escape.

Don’t allow your friends or family to be fooled; fur trim is not a by-product. More than half of all animals killed for their fur are killed specifically for fur trim. The number of animals killed for fur trim is roughly equivalent to the number of animals killed for full-fur garments. Please ask friends and family to shop cruelty-free this holiday season by avoiding all fur and fur-trimmed items.

For more information, please visit: www.furkills.com