June was a busy month for mink, one of our favourite farmed animals and so much cuter than cows, right? So let’s start our Fur in the News roundup with a mink farm attack in Ontario, Canada, where animal extremists (who later claimed responsibility) released 1,600 mink from their pens. Normally farmers manage to retrieve a lot of their animals following such attacks, but this time there was another danger: the mink were new mothers, and the lives of their tiny kits were put at great risk due to the cold temperature and their need to feed constantly.
For a change, it was our turn to show disturbing photos of animal suffering, because many of the mink did not run off to start a wonderful new life in the wild. Read our piece: Mink Liberation : 5 Facts the ALF Doesn’t Want You to Know.
Does all this talk about mink farming put you in the mood to learn more? Then check out our new series entitled A Year on A Mink Farm (see above). Part 1 is about breeding and Part 2 is about whelping and weaning.
Dumb and Dumber
June wasn’t a good month for the animal rights extremists (insert fist pump here) because they did some stupid things and the media took note.
First of all, the British weren’t too impressed when PETA demanded that Britain’s oldest pub, Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, change its name.
French former actress and long-time animal activist Brigitte Bardot looked incredibly foolish when she wrote an anti-fur letter to Karl Lagerfeld’s cat, Choupette. (For the record, I think Choupette is pro fur, like her Dad.)
And PETA’s most recent campaign, against crocodile farming, seems really stupid as hardly anyone can afford a $37,000 bag, anyway.
The law has been cracking down on the extremists, with a few of them set to do jail time for releasing mink, chaining oneself to an excavator, or embezzling funds from donors. We also loved this article, from VICE: The ‘Extremist’ Factor: Why British Animal Rights Campaigners Aren’t Taken Seriously.
Now Back to Business
A few interesting articles on the business of fur came out in June, including this series of articles for and against fur on the Business of Fashion, this piece about using the fur trade model to fix Canada’s aboriginal woes, and an interesting CNN piece on fur’s new markets.
Bits and Bobs
- Rapper A$AP Rocky is starting his own collection of fur coats.
- The mayor of Des Moines is also a furrier.
- Great advice on how to protect your farm from undercover video situations.
- Canada is checking out the market for seal penis.
- A very good question: Why don’t veal and lamb evoke the same outrage as baby seals?
- Putting baby to sleep on animal fur may lower asthma risk. (Hell, we should ALL sleep on fur, right?!)
Best Motion Picture Nominations …
It was a great month for videos over here at Truth About Fur. Our most popular Facebook posts were this hilarious polar bear dreading to go to work on a Monday (image above), and this Norwegian hunter who has adopted two absolutely adorable fawns.
We loved this VICE feature on YouTube’s most famous Canadian trapper, and if you are looking for some new series to watch over the summer, look no further than the Katmai National Park live bear cam – documenting naps, fishing, and general furry cuteness all summer. This is reality television at its best.
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