Every year, thousands of people around the country come together for an international day of action against the fur industry. Fur Free Friday is celebrated on the day after Thanksgiving, the busiest shopping day of the year. Each year I help by dressing up (or sometimes dressing down) in silly, eye-catching costumes that draw attention to the animal skins trade. This year I dressed as a caveperson with fellow demonstrators in northwest Washington, DC with a simple message; “only cavepeople wear fur.” Though the demonstrations are usually fun and light hearted, the message is a very serious one.
Each year, more than 31 million animals are killed by the fashion industry to make fur coats, collars and cuffs. Some say this number is conservative and have placed the estimates as high as 60 million. Animals in fur farms spend their entire lives in cramped filthy cages where they often go mad or die from the extreme conditions and lack of care. Those who survive the cages are often electrocuted at “harvest time”. Many stay conscious after electrocution and are skinned alive.
As a Pagan, the environmental cost of fur is particularly alarming to me. Each mink skinned by fur farmers produces about 44 pounds of feces in his or her lifetime. That adds up to 1 million pounds of feces produced annually by U.S. mink farms alone, polluting our waterways. In Denmark, fur farms generate up to 8,000 pounds of ammonia that’s released into the atmosphere each year. Due to the precious natural resources consumed to operate a fur farm, it takes about 15 times more energy to produce a real fur coat than a faux one.
I was taught early on that if Paganism is to survive, it must evolve with the times. This is often reflected in many traditions’ concern for the planet and our natural resources. Even the small amounts of fur and skin produced for the average drum has a high cost that’s paid by our fragile environment. When so many other fabulous and warm alternatives exist today, what reason do we have to continue to support this costly and violent industry? Maybe it’s time we leave fur in the stone age where it belongs.
David Salisbury works with the DC Bureau of the Pagan Newswire Collective. An activist and Witch, David’s practice finds its home within The Firefly House, a nature-based church in the DC area. You can find his work at DavidsCauldron.com.
