Activists Target Possum Fur Fashion Show

Activists Target Possum Fur Fashion Show

Animal rights activists from Auckland Animal Action will be present outside of a fur fashion show today, Wednesday the 23rd of October, at 3:30pm. The show, being carried out at the Town Hall as part of the Loreal Fashion Week, will be showcasing products produced using possum furs by the fashion label ‘Fur With Ethics’. Auckland Animal Action will be pointing out that there is nothing ethical about fur.

"Labeling a species as a pest is no justification for killing thousands of animals, and using their skin as a fashion accessory." says Michael Wise of Auckland Animal Action. "Fur is Fur. And fur is unethical. The name of this company itself can be seen as nothing other than an unfortunate oxymoron."

Just last week the government announced that the actual number of possums in New Zealand was at the very most half of what was originally estimated. "The government has conducted a hate campaign against possums on behalf of the meat industry. The environmental threat caused by possums is dramatically less than has been previously announced." says Wise. "The fur industry is not doing the New Zealand environment a favour. Instead they are profiting off of the deaths of thousands of animals, who have been killed as a result of greed and misinformation."

Bridget Saunders, fashion designer and owner of Fur With Ethics, has recently been quoted in the media as claiming to be an animal rights activist and a member of every animal rights group she is aware of. Auckland Animal Action have notified Ms. Saunders that she has officially been removed from their membership list, as a result of her open and public support of an industry based on the killing and exploitation of animals.

Possums were introduced to New Zealand over a hundred years ago for the purpose of the fur industry. "We find it incredibly ironic that the very industry that is claiming to be the saviour of the environment, by killing and profitting from the deaths of animals, is the very same industry which is responsible for the presence of this so called pest from the very beginning" says Wise.

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