Word: fur
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Animal-rights groups have steadily gathered force. Last month Trans-Species Unlimited, an animal activist organization, staged its fourth annual Fur-Free Friday in 90 cities across the nation. In New York City some 3,000 protesters, led by perennial TV game-show host Bob Barker, marched down Fifth Avenue carrying signs and taunting fur-coat wearers with shouts of "Shame!" Says Barker, who resigned last year as host of the Miss Universe pageant because contestants wore fur: "We want people wearing fur to be embarrassed when they walk into a restaurant. Fur is obscene, fur is cruel, and fur...
...recent segment of the popular TV series L.A. Law involved a furrier who sued an animal-rights group for ruining his business. The show aired gruesome video clips of animals caught in brutal leg traps. On an upcoming episode of Designing Women, narcissistic Suzanne Sugarbaker is mauled by anti-fur activists. When Atlanta disk jockey Scott Woodside this month mentioned that he had bought his wife a mink coat, listeners deluged his station with calls. The result was an informal poll in which the anti-fur forces carried the day, 702 to 684. Said Woodside: "I was extremely surprised...
While most anti-fur groups work by moral persuasion, a few animal activists have adopted extreme, even criminal tactics to advance their cause. In New York City they have sprayed coats with paint. On Fur-Free Friday several fur shops were vandalized in Miami and Fort Lauderdale. In Europe anti-fur commandos have even attacked fur wearers to gain attention. Their campaigns have succeeded in depressing fur sales in Britain, Holland and West Germany. Diana, Princess of Wales, has publicly stated that she will no longer wear furs...
...fur industry maintains that mink, which account for 75% of U.S. fur coats, are treated humanely and killed painlessly. Fur, the industry points out, is a natural fabric whose production does not pollute the environment or use fossil fuels, as does the creation of acrylic fibers. Nonetheless, U.S. fur sales have remained stagnant -- at an annual level of about $1.8 billion -- over the past three years; during the Christmas season, many department stores are slashing prices to move their furs. To meet the animal-rights threat, the Fur Information Council of America last month launched an ad campaign stressing freedom...
Many women -- and fur-wearing men too -- are starting to think twice before they shrug on a fur and nip off to the office or the grocery store. Ever since she was called "animal killer" on the street, Susan Singer, a Manhattan executive, has been ambivalent about wearing her fur coat. So is New York department-store employee Suzanne Pandjiris, who still wears her mink but fears attacks by protesters. "It makes me nervous," she says...