Animal rights group protests outside fur shop
Animal rights activists today took their fight to have mink farms shut down to the doors of one of the country’s leading fur retailers.
With the Government refusing to introduce an outright ban, Animal Rights Action Network took to the streets to highlight the trade in animals bred purely for their pelts.
Protesters gathered outside Barnardo’s Furs on Dublin’s Grafton Street handing out pictures of dead skinned foxes and urging shoppers to boycott fur shops.
John Carmody, ARAN spokesman, said the Government should be ashamed to oppose steps to end the fur farming industry.
“We strongly believe that animals have rights. We don’t want them to be slaughtered. We are not looking for better conditions we are looking for the whole industry to be outlawed,” he said.
The Government voted down a private member’s bill to outlaw fur farming last March. The Green Party, which put forward the bill, claimed 150,000 animals were being killed needlessly each year.
But Caroline Barnardo, owner of Barnardo’s which has traded in Dublin since 1812, defended the industry and insisted animals on farms were well treated.
“It’s not in the farmers’ interest to treat them poorly or let them die. What use are they without good quality furs?” she asked.
Activists claimed thousands of mink are being reared in small, crowded cages with many baby animals dying. They also alleged they are electrocuted or gassed before pelts are ripped off them.
Ministers at the Department of Agriculture have insisted they will keep the situation under review. Inspections by the Department have also indicated that the animals were well cared for and slaughter techniques complied with EU regulations.
Five mink farms, and one farm with mink, silver and arctic fox export 2 million euro (£1.4m) worth of fur each year. Activists are eager to have an outright ban imposed similar to that in Northern Ireland and Britain.
Mr Carmody vowed to continue to expose the bloody side of the fur industry at cities around the country during the rest of the year. Events are to be held in Belfast, Cork, Galway and Limerick.
