[4animals] Update

[ottawa animal advocates]

Hello,
For various reasons, I have decided that I need to reduce my involvement level in animal rights. I hope that my efforts with OAA so far might have made some difference for animals at some level. I am also very open to the possibility of 'handing over the reigns'  to someone interested and capable so please let me know if you are interested or know someone who might be. The OAA site has been a really good resource in that it is a very professional looking site.

If no-one expresses interest,  I would still hope to post others' iniatives, such as those posted on the Ottawa Veg '4animals' forum (to join this forum you can sign up  @ http://lists.ottawaveg.com/mailman/listinfo/4animals ) and definately still participate in and possibly organize or co-organize some demos or information tables. At this time I will post the following items:

Fur in the Rideau Centre
Below is a report from a 'mystery shopper' who donated their time to see which stores in the Rideau Centre already had fur stocked. The list is below although it may not be completely accurate as many stores did not have their winter collections out at the time of the compilation of the list. At this point, I thought that the results looked encouraging and I think the sucess of getting fur out of stores like Suzy Shier, Smart Set, Reitmans and Jacob is a major accomplishment. As someone mentionned, it looks like Tristan and America has also made the decision not to carry real animal fur. Despite efforts I was not able to get a confirmation from GAN, the group who initiated the campaign. Has anyone been in Tristan and America lately?

Meeting to plan possible anti-fur and/or anti-seal hunt actions
There were only 3 of us at the meeting in October but we did come to the conclusion that without a joint national effort like with the National Tristan and America campaign, that it may not be the best use of time to focus on a big chain like GUESS or Laura. We thought of perhaps a local store selling fur or a more conceptual/theatrical approach to a fur protest eg. dressing up like 'Cats' or assembling some dogs together (more than 2!) The National Anti-Fur Day and the National Anti-China Fur Day are both in the new year so there would still be time to plan for something if there was enough interest. Also, I recently saw another awful picture of the seal hunt in a recent Sea Shepherd update and I was wondering if there is any interest in putting something together this Spring? 
There seems to be momentum with the seafood boycott and with Germany imposing an official ban on seal 'products'  from Canada http://www.harpseals.org/hunt/press/german_ban.html 

Animal Alliance Demo for Farm Animals
Animal Alliance Canada is asking if there is a group (6 people minimum) that would do a demo in Ottawa for laying hens this month I believe. They provide the costumes. Is anyone interested? More info will hopefully follow if there is enough interest in 
participation. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1162728965849&call_pageid=970599119419 
 
Activists vs. factory farms
Groups want consumers to force changes in egg and pork production 
  Nov. 6, 2006. 05:26 AM


  STUART LAIDLAW, Toronto Star
  FAITH AND ETHICS REPORTER

  Smelling blood in the food industry, animal welfare activists in Canada and the U.S. are preparing to step up their campaigns against factory farming, with much of their focus on how eggs and pork are produced. 

  "Eggs are the new veal," Paul Shapiro, of the Humane Society of the United States, told a conference on humane food in Toronto. 

  With farm group representatives sitting in the audience, Shapiro and his Canadian counterparts urged the food industry to stop their costly public relations campaigns and to spend the money instead on making real changes to animal welfare. "If you are taking part in brutal, cruel practices, your days are numbered," said John Youngman, director of the Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals, which sponsored the conference. 

  Industry spokesperson Jackie Wepruk, who attended the conference for the National Farm Animal Care Council, an umbrella group for food companies and farm groups, said the industry is interested in good animal welfare. "We are looking at renewing the codes of practice" for animal care, she said, pointing out that they have not been updated for more than 20 years. 

  Youngman's group is an umbrella organization of 27 humane societies and animal welfare groups across the country that have already held several protests outside grocery stores mostly those belonging to the Loblaw chain with more in the works. 

  The coalition has also launched postcard campaigns in which consumers are asked to mail pre-written cards to the heads of food companies such as Loblaw or Maple Leaf Foods asking them to require more strict animal welfare standards from their suppliers. 

  Based in Manitoba, where the hog industry has been booming in recent years thanks to a Maple Leaf plant in Brandon, Youngman has put much of his effort into fighting the use of narrow crates to house sows in giant barns. 

  One of his tactics is to set up one of the crates outside a grocery store, with a life-sized sow doll inside. He said most people are shocked to see the living conditions under which sows live, in crates so small they cannot turn around. Many challenge him on whether such conditions really exist, he said. 

  "Once you convince them, you can get them to sign anything," he says, referring to the postcards and petitions he always has on hand at such a demonstration. 

  Stephanie Brown, another director of the coalition and the food animal co-ordinator of the Toronto-based Animal Alliance of Canada, said consumers should expect to see more such demonstrations and postcard appeals outside their grocery stores. 

  One postcard, aimed at Loblaw, calls on the company to ensure that the eggs it sells are not from hens housed in tiny cages known as battery cages, which restrict their movement and allow farmers to put more hens in one barn, increasing efficiency. 

  Shapiro said battery cages provide each hen with a space smaller than an 8 1/2 by 11 letter-sized sheet of paper. 

  Another postcard, targeting Maple Leaf Foods, Canada's largest hog slaughtering company, calls for the phasing out of gestation crates to house sows. The idea of the postcards is to convince the companies that their customers want these changes, Youngman said. 

  The coalition has made chicken costumes and human-sized battery cages that it will be shipping to protests across the country over the next few months and into the spring. Protests have already been held in Toronto, Guelph and Halifax, with more planned for Winnipeg, Montreal, Vancouver and Courtenay, B.C. 

  At the protests, demonstrators wear the costumes and get in the cage to show how cramped the conditions are. Other protestors then hand out the postcards and petitions. 

  Wepruk rejected the idea that the industry does not know what consumers want, saying they are represented in her group in several ways: through the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies and associations that represent grocery and food manufacturing companies such as Loblaw and Maple Leaf. 

  Shapiro said consumer-based campaigns can be effective, citing companies from McDonald's to Ben and Jerry's that have made public commitments to getting their food ingredients from more ethical sources. 

  "Agriculture has not been at the forefront," he said. "Companies that are retailers have been at the forefront." 

     
   
Fur at the Rideau Center – 2006

Stores without any visible fur

Trivium – NO fur policy

Garage – NO fur 

Warrens – NO fur 

Tommy Hilfiger – Nothing visible

Banana Republic – Nothing visible

Jacob – Nothing visible

TieRack – No Fur

Le Chateau – No fur

RW&Co – No Fur

American Apparel – NO Fur

Smart Set – No Fur

Suzy Shier – No Fur

Artizia – Nothing visible

Bennetton – Nothing visible

Cleo – Nothing visible

Last years’ offenders

Aldo Accessories – Nothing visible yet but normally carry

Sirens – Nothing visible yet – did carry fur last year and will sell it if distributors send it

Urban Behaviour – Nothing visible but did sell last year

Dynamite – Nothing visible but did carry last year

Jacob – Nothing visible 

Tristan – Nothing visible yet – did carry last year

Mexx – Nothing visible

Club Monaco – Nothing visible

Shopper’s Drug Mart – Nothing visible

This year’s offenders – Stores with visible fur in store

Sears – FUR – scarves, accessories

Fairweather – FUR – scarves

Melanie Lynn – FUR – scarves

Fancy Sox – Fur trim on slippers

This year’s offenders – THE BIG ONES!

DANIER LEATHER – LOTS OF FUR

Cliqot – LOTS OF FUR – visible in window display – gloves, scarves, shawls, collars, fox and rabbit

Shepherd’s – LOTS OF FUR - visible in window display – gloves, scarves, shawls, collars, fox and other

Carriere – LOTS OF FUR –  wool coats with fur collars, scarves, pom-pom accessories

JMichaels – LOTS OF FUR – wide variety of fur scarves

GUESS – LOTS OF FUR – whole jackets, vests, scarves – One of the biggest offenders this year! Rabbit fur. Salespeople claim it is from shaved rabbits

The Bay – Of course! One of the Big players

I have also noticed fur at Winners as usual, as well as rabbit fur hats at Mark's Work Warehouse and fur trim on boots at Pay Less Shoe Stores.

Please let me know if you are interested in an Animal Alliance factory farming demo ASAP or getting together at some point with other interested activists to discuss possible anti-fur/anti-seal hunt iniatives.

Thanks,

Victoria


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