Did AmEx renege on “no fur” pledge to Roddick?

July 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

Did or did not American Express pledge to drop fur from

its catalogs, to secure an endorsement from Body Shop skin and

hair care products founder Anita Roddick?

Catching flak for appearing in AmEx television commer-

cials while the firm is under boycott by PETA and other groups,

Roddick issued a written statement on April 15 asserting that,

“Before agreeing to do the commercial, I had a meeting with

American Express where I was assured that the current catalog

would be the last one to include fur.” Receiving Roddick’s state-

ment directly from The Body Shop, ANIMAL PEOPLE pub-

lished it in May.

FUR

June 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1993:

Someone used rat poison in late

April to kill more than 17,000 mink at

the Sakhalin Fur Industrial Association fur

farm on Sakhalin Island in the former

Soviet Union. The fur farm claimed a loss

of $2.8 million, although at current world

pelt prices the actual loss was probably

closer to $400,000. Possible suspects

include rival fur entrepreneurs trying to

boost prices for their own pelts by creating

a shortage and simultaneously wiping out a

rival; someone in management attempting

to cash in on the limited insurance cover-

age; and/or disgruntled employees.

Roddick tells AmEx to shed fur

May 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

WEST SUSSEX, U.K.––Seeking

to build a progressive image, American

Express recently began airing television com-

mercials featuring British cruelty-free person-

al care products entrepreneur Anita Roddick,

whose Body Shop logo has become synony-

mous with conscientious capitalism. The

commercials describe how Roddick roams the

world in search of products whose ingredients

can be harvested from whole and healthy nat-

ural environments, such as the Amazonian

rainforest. It’s great publicity for The Body

Shop as well as for AmEx––and it came at a

price beyond dollars.

Fur

April 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1993:

Preliminary data indicates U.S.

trapping license sales fell to 147,000 dur-

ing the winter of 1992-1993, down from

191,000 in 1991-1992; 230,000 in 1990-

1991; and 338,000 in 1987-1988, when

U.S. trappers sold 19 million pelts. This

past winter they sold just 2.5 million.

Trapping was a $10 million a

year industry in Louisiana during the

early 1980s, but is now earning only $1

million a year. Trying to revive the boom,

state Department of Wildlife and

Fisheries biologist Greg Linscombe

recently told Newsweek that damage to

bayous caused by Hurricane Andrew was

actually the fault of allegedly overpopu-

lating nutria. Nutria are muskrat-like

South American aquatic mammals

brought to Louisiana by fur farmers about

70 years ago––and are a favorite food of

alligators. The Louisiana Department of

Wildlife and Fisheries, removes 75,000

alligator eggs a year from the bayous to

stock alligator farms.

Religion & Animals

April 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1993:

The General Association of Davidian

Seventh Day Adventists, a 500-member vege-

tarian sect active in New York, California, and

South Carolina, wish to make known that they

have nothing whatever to do with the Branch

Davidians, who have been involved in an armed

standoff with police and the FBI since February

28 at their compound near Waco, Texas.

Fur

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service has proposed to take red, western

gray, and eastern gray kangaroos off the

threatened species list, which would mean

their pelts could be imported in greater

numbers. Protected since 1974, the

Australian kangaroos now number about

18 million, up from 10 million in 1984,

and are killed for pelts at the rate of about

5.2 million a year. Public comments will

be received until March 22. Address

Office of Public Affairs, USFWS, Dept.

of the Interior, Washington, DC 20240.

Fur

December 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

The Dutch Advertising

Standards Authority has upheld allega-

tions of misleading advertising leveled

against the fur trade by the anti-fur group

Bont Voor Diren [Fur For Animals.] The

Standards Authority ruled that,

“Considering the way fur is being produced,

by means of unnatural catch in the wild

often by means of a leghold trap, fur farms,

and as byproduct of factory farming for the

production of meat, it cannot be maintained

that fur is ‘ecological’…According to the

judgement of the authority, the production

of fur has nothing to do with the natural

relations that exist between animals and the

environment they live in. Nor can the pro-

cessing of fur be called ecological or envi-

ronmentally friendly, since materials are

used that damage the environment.” Earlier,

the Standards Authority ruled that the fur

trade couldn’t describe the welfare of ani-

mals on fur farms as “excellent.”

Canadian government crackdown: Animal Defense League loses charitable status; RETALIATION FOR ANTIFUR EFFORTS?

November 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

OTTAWA, Ontario–– The

Animal Defense League of Canada has

been stripped of the charitable status it has

enjoyed since 1967 by Revenue Canada,

the Canadian equivalent of the Internal

Revenue Service,

Although the ADLC retains non-

profit status, donations to the group are no

longer tax deductible.

“For several years now,” the

group told members in late September,

“Revenue Canada has been reviewing the

charitable status of animal rights organiza-

tions and taking a very narrow view of what

they will accept as being ‘charitable.’ We

believe this position is being taken in

response to the complaints and pressure

from factory farmers, the fur industry,

vivisectors, the hunters’ lobby, and oth-

ers.”

Fur

November 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

Fur Free Friday is November

27—the day after Thanksgiving, the tradi-

tional start of the peak fur sales season. Get

details on demonstrations in your region

from either Friends of Animals at 212-247-

8120, or Animal Rights Mobilization at

303-388-7120.

The Fur Council of Canada

announced a $1 million publicity blitz on

October 20, aimed at reviving the strug-

gling Canadian retail fur market––one of

the last markets left to the Canadian fur

industry, following the collapse of fur sales

in Europe and the U.S. The campaign

argues that furs are reuseable and

biodegradable, and that the fur trade is an

essential part of controlling animal popula-

tions––which contradicts earlier industry

claims that the majority of animals killed

for fur are ranched especially for the pur-

pose.

« 1 … 12 13 14 15 »