Fur Free Friday a Huge Success!

[Guest guest]

Hey all!

 

I just wanted to take a moment to let everyone who wasn't

able to make it to Fur Free Friday know how it went. About 80+

people (and a few dogs) showed up, and we had a great march, with

plenty of signs and banners. The main props were our two black

coffins overflowing with furs, and 14 headstones with pictures of

different animals exploited for the fur industry. At each of the

major stores, we stopped, set down the coffin and a headstone, then

set down some flowers while an activist read a eulogy specific to the

animal species we were remembering. It went really smoothly, and

everyone pretty much agreed that it was a huge success.

Honestly, I don't think it would have been so successful if

the individuals who were marching us from the SFPD weren't so

incredibly nice. They closed off the major streets around Union

Square for us, and were ready and willing to do more than they had to

to make our march a success. Some of them even took a personal

interest in the cause, and I got a chance to explain to them the

horrors of the fur trade, and why we insist on protesting on days

like Fur Free Friday, as well as every Sunday @ Neiman's.

 

The only major problem we encountered was the lack of media

attention. There wasn't much said (if anything) about us on the

local news, even though a picture of Anita & Jen from IDA holding up

the coffin was found on some news site in southern California. It's

as if the media was instructed only to cover stores that encouraged

consumerism, which seemed the overall theme of the various news

programs that night. However, after our big march, several other

activists and myself went on another to stop at all the fur-sellers

we missed during the first. A woman filming a documentary on the AR

movement followed us around and interviewed us, and, hopefully, I'll

get a copy of this sometime.

 

I'll be sure to let you guys know as soon as I get the

pictures that were taken! If you weren't able to make it to FFF,

but still want to help in the fight against the fur trade, let me

know -- there are all kinds of ways you can get active! You're

always welcome to join the CAFT demo every Sunday between 2-4 p.m. in

front of the Neiman Marcus in Union Square -- rain or shine!

 

- Carla Brauer

karrotqueen