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.