2007-10-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

Anti-fur Activism

There is no reason that anyone should wear fur. If you’re not aware of how fur is made, please watch the video on the right. It's up to all of us to educate people who wear, sell, or who may be thinking of buying fur. We must speak for the voiceless. Below are some great ways for you to help....

A Store Letter

This is probably one of the most important actions you can do. Giving a store letter in person or by mail has more impact than sending an email. Emails have very little effect unless thousands of people send them.

Personally addressing the letter with the store managers name will make a greater inpact. They will be more likely to read the letter if it is addressed to them. Just call up the store that you want to give a letter to and ask for the store managers name.

On an envelope please type or print:

ATTN: Store Managers Name Here

(You may notice that the following letter says "last Tuesday." This is to intrigue them so that they take the letter more seriously, as it is more precise.) I would suggest using font Verdana, size 11 when printing this letter....

Dear Store Managers Name Here,

When I walked into your store last Tuesday I was shocked to see that you carried products containing fur. Perhaps you are unaware of the fur-making process. I would like to tell you about it so you can make a more informed decision. I hope you are okay with that...

Animals trapped in the wild may suffer for days before dying from blood loss, infection, or attacks by predators. Some, especially mothers with babies to feed, chew off their own limbs in an attempt to escape. On fur farms, animals spend their lives pacing in tiny wire cages until they are killed by being anally electrocuted, gassed, or having their necks broken. Sometimes these methods only stun the animals, “leaving them fully conscious” while they’re being skinned.

Simply type "fur" and "cruelty" in any search engine and you will see hundreds of sites with videos and information. These sites may be extremely graphic. If you find you cannot watch, I hope you at least listen. I do not mean to disturb you, but just to give you information to consider.

Please let your heart make the choice. You can make a statement to society that you choose love and kindness and will not subscribe to needless abuse. This will gain you respect, and that means more sales to the steadily growing number of aware citizens.

Here are some companies that have already chosen to boycott fur products:

Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle Outfitters, Anthropologie, Ashley Paige, Banana Republic , Benjamin Cho, Betsey Johnson, Burton Snowboards, Calvin Klein, Carhartt, Champs Sports, Charlotte Russe, Club Monaco, Columbia Sportswear Company, Delia's, Dollhouse, Duckie Brown, Eastbay, Eddie Bauer, Eileen Fisher, Esprit, Express, Footaction, Foot Locker, Inc., Forever 21, Gant, The Gap, Inc., Guess?, Inc, H&M, Hollister Co., J. Crew, J. Jill, Jay McCarroll, Katharine Hamnett, Kenneth Cole, Limited Brands, Linda Loudermilk, Lucky Brand Jeans, Madewell, Marc Bouwer, Marciano, Mountain Hardwear, Nicole Miller, Old Navy, Pacific Trail, Patagonia, Paul Frank, Piperlime, Polo Ralph Lauren, prAna, Rebecca Taylor, REI, Richard Chai, RRL, Rugby, Sorel, Stella McCartney, The Talbots, Inc., The Limited, Todd Oldham, Tommy Hilfiger, Timberland, Topshop, Urban Outfitters, Victoria Bartlett/VPL, Victoria's Secret and Zara.

Sincerely,

Your Name Here

Pick Up A Poster

Demonstrate your passion for compassion! Pick up a poster and take up a position on the sidewalk where there is lots of pedestrian traffic, such as in front of a shopping mall even if there's no fur stores close by. A demonstration can be anything from one person handing out leaflets to a parade of people.

This is one of my favourite posters:
https://secure.lcanimal.org/store.htm

The two posters above are available from PETA:
http://www.petaliterature.com/products.asp?dept=38

You can also make your own posters.

Buttons Can Spread Awareness

These are the buttons I wear on my coat. They let people know that wearing fur is not acceptable. I designed two of these buttons. You can see the other buttons I've made by going to www.compassion-buttons.blogspot.com

Cafepress has tons of great buttons. I believe that's where I got my no fur button:
http://www.cafepress.com/

Stick It To Them With Stickers

I love these anti-fur stickers:
http://www.idausa.org/shop-ida/lit1.html

Use anti-fur stickers to decorate everything from envelopes to handbags. "I've seen them in the most unusual places:

- tollbooths
- escalators and elevators
- washrooms (inside the stall)
- public telephones
- animal books at the library
- dressing rooms
- store windows
- cars and trucks
- bus station stalls

Give Out Anti-fur Leaflets On The Streets

It only takes one person on the street leafleting to spread awareness of a cause.

When fur is used for fashion leaflet:
http://www.idausa.org/shop-ida/lit1.html

FUR: there's no excuse leaflet:
http://www.petaliterature.com/

The True Price Of Fur leaflet:
http://www.idausa.org/shop-ida/lit1.html

The leaflet above not only gives information about fur in general; it also focuses on cat and dog fur. Unfortunately, this is a United States leaflet so it has a few sentences that speak about cat and dog fur being sold there. So I would not recommend it being handed out randomly to people on the street unless you can stress that Canada does sell cat and dog fur and that it's legal to sell it here. Otherwise people might disregard all the information in this leaflet, thinking sales of dog and cat fur only happen in the United States. If you are Canadian this is still a great leaflet to have on hand to show people that this does really happen to cats and dogs.

Let Your Mailbox Get The Message Out

Fur is Never Worth the Price - Cards:

http://www.idausa.org/shop-ida/lit1.html

I find these cards are great because they are very easy to read and not too wordy. The writing is on the back of the picture so I just use a second card and turn it over onto the writing side, then tape it to the picture. I put it in a plastic page protector to protect it from the elements and then it's ready to be taped to the mailbox. (I've even heard of people putting these inside the pockets of fur and fur-trimmed coats).

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