People Power Victory for Cats and Dogs as Europe Votes Unanimously for Fur Ban

[Guest guest]

Release: Immediate

 

19 June 2007

 

Issued by: Conservatives in the European Parliament

 

Struan Stevenson MEP, tel: +33 (0) 3 881 75710

 

 

 

People Power Victory for Cats and Dogs as Europe Votes Unanimously for Fur

Ban

 

 

 

 

 

Strasbourg, 19th June 2007 -- An EU-wide ban on dog and cat fur imports

received unanimous approval from the European Parliament in Strasbourg today

(Tuesday).

 

 

 

The ban is predicted to save the lives of more than two million cats and

dogs every year in China.

 

 

 

Millions of people across Europe who signed petitions, sent emails and wrote

letters during an eight year campaign, supported tirelessly by Conservative

MEP Struan Stevenson and his colleagues, have persuaded Europe's political

law-makers to act.

 

 

 

The ban on cat and dog fur imports, exports and trade will now become law in

all 27 Member States by the end of 2008 at the latest.

 

 

 

Mr Stevenson, who is travelling to Beijing later this week to seek

reassurance from the Chinese Government that the trade will be stamped out,

said:

 

 

 

" I am delighted at this unanimous vote, but the real winners are the two

million cats and dogs who faced a gruesome death each year in China. We have

given a voice to these animals who could not speak for themselves.

 

 

 

" Despite the long campaign to bring this horrific trade to an end, there are

still many shoppers in the UK and Europe blissfully unaware that the items

they purchase are actually made from the skins of cats and dogs. Labels

give scant information of the source and often carry confusing names of

non-existent animals.

 

 

 

" Slaughter of these animals is horrific, with cats strangled outside their

cages as other cats look on and dogs noosed with metal wires are slashed

across the groin until they bleed to death as the wire noose cuts into their

throat. "

 

 

 

Pelts used from these tortured creatures have appeared in EU stores as

full-length coats, homeopathic arthritis aids, hair bows for children, toy

cat figurines and linings for boots and gloves.

 

 

 

Struck by the cruelty exposed, Heather Mills McCartney and Rick Wakeman

(from the rock band Yes) threw their weight behind the campaign and Dennis

Erdman (one of the directors of Sex And The City) persuaded several

Hollywood celebrities to call on the European Commission to act.

 

 

 

It's been a long journey to victory.

 

 

 

Humane Society International - one of the biggest animal welfare groups in

the world - launched the European campaign to ban cat and dog fur in 1999

with the support of Mr Stevenson.

 

 

 

Mark Glover, director of Humane Society International (UK) and Respect for

Animals, today said: " We are delighted that the Parliament has responded to

the overwhelming wishes of the public and acted so decisively by voting for

a full ban on the trade in all cat and dog fur.

 

 

 

" People are rightly disgusted when they find out that cats and dogs are

being killed for their fur. A film taken by the Humane Society

International, showing a dog skinned alive and cats strangled in front of

each other, is gut-wrenching.

 

 

 

" This vote is the result of the commitment of MEPs, the Presidency and the

Member States who championed this campaign - they must all be congratulated

for their actions to stop this disgusting trade. "

 

 

 

David Neale, UK director of Animals Asia Foundation, added: " This vote is

absolutely wonderful news. It is something ourselves and other charities

have been campaigning for over several years now and we are delighted that

the EU has taken the step to ban the trade. We will now look out for a

decline in the industry in China.

 

 

 

" This also sends a clear message to the Chinese government that what is

happening in China is not acceptable around the world and strengthens our

call for animal welfare legislation across China. "

 

 

 

ENDS

 

 

 

Film footage is available from Humane Society International

 

 

 

Photographs attached from the South China Wild Animal Market should be

credited to Animals Asia Foundation

 

 

 

Notes to editors:

 

 

 

1. Struan Stevenson has campaigned over the last eight years to halt

the import, export and trade in cat and dog fur in the EU.

 

 

 

2. In 2003 Humane Society International and Mr Stevenson revealed

video evidence showing that the trade in cat skins is flourishing

underground in Belgium. Further testing of some of these products revealed

the dangerous toxic levels of chromium contained in novelty cat & dog

figurines and toys. In December 2003, 346 MEPs - an actual majority -

backed a Declaration in the European Parliament supporting a ban. The

President of the European Parliament then instructed the Commission to draft

legislation outlawing the practice, to reflect the will of the Parliament.

 

 

 

3. In January 2005 Mr Stevenson met Minister Wang Jiarui, Head of

the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party

of China, and appealed to China, as a member of the WTO, to tighten its

animal welfare regulations and bring an end to the cruel trade of cat and

dog fur.

 

 

 

4. In March 2005, Heather Mills McCartney, landmine activist and

charity campaigner, and Rick Wakeman, lead musician from the rock group

'Yes', attended a press conference in the European Parliament in Brussels to

voice their support for a ban across the European Union of cat and dog fur.

 

 

 

5. In a TV interview last year, Sir Paul McCartney called for a

boycott on Chinese fur products and on the Beijing Olympics until China bans

this evil trade of skinning animals alive.

 

 

 

6. It is estimated that more than 2 million animals are brutally

slaughtered each year in China alone to supply the main markets in Europe

and Russia. The furs and skins are made into coats, fur trim for gloves,

boot-linings, cat and dog figurines and used in countless other ways. There

is clearly a fraudulent and illegal aspect to this trade as consumers are

duped into buying what they believe to be faux fur or fur from wild animals,

as merchants make up mythical names on labels, or dye the fur to make it

look like faux-fur.

 

 

 

Contact: Struan Stevenson MEP, tel: +33 (0) 3 881 75710,

struan.stevenson

<blocked::struan.stevenson

 

Melanie Warman - Conservative Press Office - tel: +32 (0) 473 658768,

melanie.warman

 

 

 

 

 

Dave Neale

 

UK Director

 

Animals Asia Foundation

 

 

 

Find out more about our historic China Bear Rescue and Friends or Food?

projects by visiting the Animals Asia Foundation website at

http://www.animalsasia.org