For Immediate Release: November 25, 2005

Contacts: Mercy For Animals: 1-866-MFA-Ohio

CAGED FUR-WEARERS PROTEST CRUELTY TO ANIMALS IN THE FUR INDUSTRY

Group Airs Graphic Footage of Fur Farm Cruelty – Urges Shoppers to Wear Synthetics

Columbus, OH - Wearing full-length fur coats and crammed into tiny wire cages, members of the animal advocacy organization Mercy For Animals will illustrate the cruel conditions on fur farms and urge consumers to boycott fur this Friday - the busiest shopping day of the year. The caged fur-wearers will be joined by protesters holding a banner that declares, “Cruelty is Never in Fashion,” and signs that read “Have a Heart, Don’t Wear Fur.” An activist wearing an electronic “body screen” TV will air shocking undercover footage of animals being electrocuted to death on fur farms.

Date: Friday, November 25

Time: noon - 1:00 p.m.

Location: Easton Town Center Mall, on northwest corner sidewalk of Easton Way and Stelzer Rd. intersection.

MFA wants consumers to know that on fur farms, animals spend their entire lives in tiny, filthy cages, where they suffer physical and psychological distress before being killed by poisoning, gassing, anal electrocution, or neck-breaking. An undercover investigation recently revealed abuses on a Michigan fur farm, including the painful electrocution and neck-breaking of chinchillas, causing them to writhe in agony. Animals trapped for fur suffer excruciating pain, often for days, before having their chests stomped or necks broken by trappers. Beavers caught in underwater traps struggle frantically before drowning.

“There is nothing fashionable about cruelty to animals,” says MFA Director Nathan Runkle. “Animals are gassed, electrocuted, drowned, or beaten to death, and some are even skinned alive to be made into fur coats or fur trim. With so many stylish synthetics available, there’s no excuse for wearing fur.”