Fighting fur at New York fashion week

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Fighting fur at New York fashion week

 

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Fighting fur at New York fashion week

 

Thu Feb 10, 2:07 PM ET

 

Add to My U.S. National - AFP

 

NEW YORK (AFP) - Animal rights activists and their

dogs protested outside New York's fashion week, where

resurgent demand for fur designs was evident among the

catwalk creations on display.

 

Photo

AFP/File Photo

 

 

 

Targetting a show by fur label J. Mendel, around a

dozen members of People For the Ethical Treatment of

Animals (PETA) lobbied those attending the event,

asking the question " Would you wear your dog? " to

anyone decked out in fur apparel.

 

The protesters underlined their message by bringing

along their own family pets.

 

" It defies logic, " said PETA campaign coordinator Liza

Franzetta. " We call some animals pets and some animals

pelts. "

 

" A lot of these people wearing fur would no doubt

shudder at the idea of their own pets being anally

electrocuted, but that's how the animals they decorate

themselves with are killed, " Franzetta said.

 

One PETA volunteer held a video monitor showing

gruesome footage of chinchillas having their necks

snapped and seal cubs being clubbed to death.

 

Most fashion-goers simply ignored the protest.

 

" People have been using and wearing animal skin for

ever, " said Chrissy Liu, who sported a fox-fur stole.

" I wear leather shoes and I wear fur. What's the

difference? "

 

Five or ten years ago, it seemed that animal rights

activists were easily winning their battle against the

fur trade, with aggressive publicity campaigns that

vilified and stigmatised the wearing of real fur.

 

Recently, however, fur has been making something of a

comeback, especially as a youth fashion item, helping

shrug off an image as the exclusive domain of the

ultra-rich.

 

Sales of fur and fur-trimmed apparel in the US market

reached a record 1.8 billion dollars in 2003, up 7.5

percent from the previous year, according to the Fur

Information Council of America.

 

" It's clear that fur has become a fashion

requirement, " said the council's executive director

Keith Kaplan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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