IDA To Reveal Cruelty on Fur Farms to Holiday Shoppers
Consumers Urged to Go Fur Free on Busiest Shopping Day of the Year

Holding posters featuring a beautiful fox with a price tag attached to her ear, members of In Defense of Animals (IDA) will gather in Union Square to show shoppers “the true price of fur” and urge them to shun any garment made with fur. Demonstrators will remind shoppers that anyone who buys fur supports the suffering of millions of fox, mink, and chinchilla who are cruelly crammed in filthy wire mesh cages simply for greed and vanity. Video footage of a recent investigation of fur farms in China, where millions of foxes, minks, rabbits and raccoons are killed - revealing horrific cruelty - will be screened. The demonstration is concurrent with demonstrations across the U.S. on the day after Thanksgiving, which has become known, nationally, as Fur Free Friday:

Los Angeles, Calif.
Bill Dyer (310) 301-7730
Date: Friday, November 25, 11:00 a.m.
Place: March will commence at the corner of Rodeo Drive and Santa Monica Blvd.

San Francisco, Calif.
Karen Steele (415) 388-9641, ext. 217
Date: Friday, November 25, 12:00 noon
Place: Union Square, intersection of Stockton St. at Geary St.

Tampa, Fla.
Kris Dotson (813) 979-1524
Date: Friday, November 25, 12:00 -2:30 p.m.
Place: Westshore Mall, Intersection of WestShore and Kennedy Boulevards

Battle Creek, Mich.
Sophia DiPietro (269) 963-1637
Date: Friday, November 25, 12:30 -2:00 p.m.
Place: Burtrum Furs, 5568 Beckley Road

Portland, Ore.
Matt Rossell (503) 890-5151
Date: Friday, November 25, 11:00 a.m.
Place: SW 9th and SW Morrison

Activists want shoppers to realize that animals suffer for all fur, even the kind inconspicuously used as trim on coats, ear muffs, or gloves. As a result of its cheaper production, China has become the foremost fur supplier to the U.S. An investigation of Chinese fur farms revealed workers attempting to stun animals by repeatedly slamming them against the ground or bashing their heads with clubs. Such unreliable methods left many animals fully conscious, visibly blinking and breathing for as long as ten minutes after the fur was ripped from their bodies. Fur from China ends up in stores all across the U.S.

On U.S. fur farms, the standard methods of killing animals for “ranched fur” are gassing, neck breaking, poisoning, or anal or vaginal electrocution. The fur may even come from wild animals caught in steel-jaw traps where they suffer excruciating pain, often for days, before having their chests stomped on or their necks broken by trappers. Beavers caught in underwater traps struggle frantically for up to 20 minutes before drowning.

“Consumers beware: Whether it’s a small bit of fur trim on a cuff or a full-length coat, buying any garment with fur supports the bloody fur trade,” says IDA spokesperson Karen Steele.

Many celebrated designers, such as Stella McCartney and Todd Oldham, refuse to design with fur and recently, several prominent retail chains including Victoria’s Secret and Forever 21 have pledged not to sell real fur.

For more information on IDA’s anti-fur campaign, please visit: www.FurKills.org.