Anti-fur march: activists call for a ban on the fur industry
Photos: Helle Vendelbo
Taking on a terrible industry
Every year, around 100 million animals are killed in the fur industry. That equates to about 200 animals every minute. That's why hundreds of animal rights activists gathered in Copenhagen on Saturday, February 25th to protest against this horrific industry.
The demonstration started at City Hall Square, where the band Frø took to the stage and got the activists going. The band made cool battle cry music that motivated the audience to chant along to battle cries such as "fur industry is animal cruelty!" and "Animal fur is not fashion, where the hell is your compassion?!".
After music and warming up with battle cries, we marched through the streets of Copenhagen, shouting the same battle cries at the top of our lungs. We stopped at every fur shop on the way to remind them of what a horrible industry they are making money from. During the march, we were met with many nods and thumbs up. There is no doubt that Copenhageners are ready for a fur-free future, it's just the politicians who are lagging behind.
At the beginning of the year, our government decided to reintroduce animal cruelty of the worst kind when they decided to reopen the mink industry. In addition, the rabbits and chinchillas have never had a break from the small wooden cages and their unfair fate. Just a few days ago, on March 16, a resolution to ban mink farming in Denmark was once again tabled in the Danish Parliament and once again it failed to pass. This is in direct contradiction with other countries in Europe, where 17 out of 27 countries have already banned fur production and where 7 other countries are in the process of considering bans. In addition, the EU citizens' initiative Fur Free Europe managed to collect more than 1.5 million signatures for a fur-free Europe. The fact that the industry still exists in Denmark makes no sense
“Jeg kommer aldrig nogensinde til at kunne forstå hvordan et liv i et bur er det eneste man kender til. ”
At the February 25 demonstration, it was clear that many activists were deeply affected by the horrors of the fur industry. After the march, we gathered in Israel/Palestine Square where speeches were given and music played. "I will never, ever understand how a life in a cage is all you know. Nor do I imagine that there has ever been a mink, a fox, a chinchilla or a rabbit that has ever crossed the mind that all that they have to endure, all that suffering, is so that their skin can be a decoration for humans", said one of the speakers, activist Ellen. Ellen's speech brought tears to the eyes of many of the participants.
And so the demonstration continued. With touching speeches from other activists, such as Animal Ambassador campaign leader Maya and her 12-year-old sweet David, longtime animal advocate Mathias from Anima, and the insanely hard-working activist Kikki from CAFT Denmark. After the many amazing speeches, we rounded off the demonstration with music. First with a beautiful, acoustic, performance of the song Liberation, by the artist Rod and then with catchy music from the band Soy Boys, who appropriately ended the day with the song No to Fur.
More activism after the march
When the demonstration was completely over, activists from CAFT wanted to keep the fighting spirit going, and they went to the Max Mara store to demonstrate against their sale of fur, as part of CAFT's global pressure campaign against the brand. Finally, we gathered at Folkets Hus for a lovely vegan communal meal.
Many wise words were said that day, about the importance of our struggle, about how important it is that we take care of ourselves in the struggle, and about how incredibly important it is that we never forget who we are fighting for. We could insert pages and pages of quotes and descriptions of how we experienced the day, but we think the activists who had come all the way from Sweden to participate in our demonstration summed it up as well as it can be summed up:
“We will not stop fighting when every cage is comfortable, we will stop when every cage is empty”
Want to know more? Read also the posts "Completely unacceptable, horrible and backwards: The government will continue mink farming" and "Dear Christiansborg: Ban mink farming permanently!"
