December 3, 2024 – No one could ignore us on Fur Free Friday! With a rousing fanfare, confrontational action signs and educators doing the fur test with curious bystanders, we stimulated all the senses of shoppers in downtown Rotterdam.
At three locations across the city, we made our fur-free message visible and audible – and it was much needed. On Fur Free Friday we celebrate progress: more and more countries are banning fur farms and consumers are opting for a fur-free wardrobe. This year we celebrated that more and more brands and stores in the port city also have a fur-free policy. All the greater was the contrast with the amount of fur collars we spotted during the action. That’s why we entered into the conversation to educate and create awareness. We did this, for example, with our fur test. Many people do not see the difference between animal fur and imitation fur. Passersby looked at the underlayer, pricked the fur with a needle and felt the hair. We also told about the suffering of the animals raised and killed in this horror industry. Although fur wearers did not renounce their collars, they did promise never to buy it again. Those who were already anti-fur or became convinced after our talk could have their picture taken with our mascot Wally the Raccoon Dog. https://youtu.be/YGv8HNWkUZ4 As long as tens of millions of animals continue to be bred and killed each year, and fur is allowed to be imported and sold here, the celebration of Fur Free Friday is bittersweet. But there is hope. We recently shared new figures on the fur industry. The number of animals killed annually dropped from 44 million to 7 million in less than a decade. The number of fur farms in Europe fell from 4350 to 1088 between 2018 and 2023. Production in China has also halved since 2022. Until these figures reach zero, we will make ourselves heard together with you. With horns & bells, information campaigns, action signs and other statements. Someday we will celebrate Fur Free All Day. We smell victory and we won’t stop until the fur industry is a thing of the past!
