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Queen Guitarist Brian May Joins Charities to Deliver 400,000 Signatures to No 10 Calling for a UK Fur Trade Ban
Theresa May urged to heed public opinion and end import and sale of cruel fur products
LONDON (26 March 2018) – Queen guitarist and animal advocate Brian May CBE joined the UK’s leading animal-protection groups at 10 Downing Street today to hand in a petition with more than 400,000 signatures urging Prime Minister Theresa May to introduce a UK animal-fur import ban. The campaigners wore T-shirts that read, “#FurFreeBritain”, and two sported 2 foot papier mâché fox and rabbit heads, which were made by Paperhand Puppet Intervention.
Fur farming was banned in the UK in 2000, but since then, Britain has imported animal fur worth more than £650 million from countries such as China and Poland, where animals are typically bred in appalling conditions on fur farms.
The petition signatures were collected as part of the Fur Free Britain campaign by the UK animal charities Humane Society International UK, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Four Paws, Animal Aid, Brian May’s SAVE ME TRUST, Viva!, The Jane Goodall Institute UK, and Open Cages as well as social network Care2.
More than a quarter of the signatures were gathered for a UK Government and Parliament petition initiated by citizen campaigners Diane Bartlett and Catherine Reda, which met its goal of 100,000 signatures last week, triggering a parliamentary debate on the UK fur trade, which will take place on XX Month.
“Hundreds of thousands of British people have supported our call for a Fur Free Britain, so we hope Mrs May will take decisive action to address the current double standard on fur cruelty,” says a Fur Free Britain campaign spokesperson. “Britain made its stance on fur clear almost two decades ago by banning fur farming because it’s unethical, so it makes no sense to still be importing hundreds of millions of pounds of fur from animals who have endured horrific cruelty in other countries. It’s time the UK pulled the plug on the fur trade.”
Brian May said,
“In the light of the now proven appalling cruelty to animals in the production of fur, it’s time to make a stand. Fur that did not grow on us has no place in a decent society.”
More than 100 million animals suffer each year for the global fur trade, most of them reared in terrible conditions on fur farms. Naturally free-roaming species such as raccoon dogs, minks, and foxes are subjected to physical and psychological torment in small, barren cages for their entire lives before being killed by gassing or electrocution and skinned. Wild animals trapped for their fur, such as coyotes, fare little better – they can languish in agony in cruel traps for hours or even days before dying from dehydration, starvation, or attacks by predators or being killed when the trapper returns.
The Fur Free Britain campaign is calling on the government to use Brexit as an opportunity to make the UK a fur-free zone.* Although the UK has outlawed fur farming and EU regulations ban imports of fur from cats and dogs and from commercial seal hunts, Britain still imports and sells the fur of a variety of other species, including foxes, rabbits, minks, coyotes, raccoon dogs, and chinchillas. Campaigners want the existing import bans extended to protect all species, and opinion polls show that most Brits agree – 80 per cent believe that it’s unacceptable to buy or sell animal fur in the UK, regardless of species.
The Fur Free Britain campaign has garnered support from a number of prominent figures. Earlier this month, 31 of the country’s biggest celebrities – including Dame Judi Dench and Ricky Gervais – sent a letter sent to the Prime Minister calling for a fur import ban. The full letter and list of signatories can be read here.
The campaign is already gaining traction in Westminster. This month, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee is conducting an enquiry into the UK fur trade, and a growing number of MPs of all political colours – including Conservatives Zac Goldsmith and Sir Roger Gale, Labour’s Kerry McCarthy, and Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas – have declared their support for a ban.
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METRO
Queen’s Brian May delivers Fur Free Britain petition to 10 Downing Street calling for an import ban on fur
26 Mar 2018 by Katie Baillie
Brian May has visited Downing Street to hand in a petition against the importation of fur.
The Queen guitarist led the charge as he declared fur has ‘no place in decent society’, visiting number 10 to hand over a petition with 400,000 signatures against the importation of animal fur as part of the Fur Free Britain campaign.
The signatures were collected by a number of UK animal charities including Humane Society International UK, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Four Paws, Animal Aid, Brian May’s SAVE ME TRUST, Viva! and Open Cages as well as social network Care2.
The petition urges Theresa May to use Brexit as an opportunity to impose the ban.
Queen guitarist Brian May alone with animal-protection campaigners including two wearing giant papier mâché fox and rabbit heads on the steps of 10 Downing Street with a petition of more than 400,000 signatures urging Prime Minister Theresa May to introduce a UK animal-fur import ban.
While fur farming is illegal in the UK and has been since 2000, fur is currently brought into the country from the likes of China and Poland where animals are kept in ‘appalling conditions’.
Brian May said: ‘In light of the now proven appalling cruelty in the production of fur, it’s time to make a stand. Fur that did not grow on us has no place in a decent society.’
Dame Judi Dench and Ricky Gervais also sent letters to the Prime Minister imploring her to impose an import ban.
A spokesman for Fur Free Britain said: ‘Hundreds of thousands of British people have supported our call for a Fur Free Britain, so we hope Mrs May will take decisive action to address the current double standard of fur cruelty. Britain made its stance on fur clear almost two decades ago by banning fur farming because it’s unethical, so it makes no sense to still be importing hundreds of million of pounds of fur from animals who have endured horrific cruelty in other countries.
‘It’s time the UK pulled the plug on the fur trade.’
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BT.COM
Fur has no place in decent society, says Queen’s Brian May
May joined animal protection charities to hand in 400,000-strong petition to Government calling for a ban on animal fur imports.
Press Association 26 March 2018
Queen guitarist Brian May has said wearing animal fur “has no place in a decent society” as he joined calls for imports of fur to be banned. May joined animal protection campaigners to hand in a 400,000-strong petition to 10 Downing Street urging Prime Minister Theresa May to introduce an animal fur import ban as the UK leaves the European Union.
Fur farming was made illegal in the UK in 2000, but since then more than £650 million worth of furs have been imported from countries such as China and Poland where animals suffer “appalling conditions”, campaigners said.
The petition has been handed in after celebrities including Dame Judi Dench and Ricky Gervais sent a letter to the Prime Minister calling for a import ban.
The signatures were collected as part of the Fur Free Britain campaign by UK animal protection charities including Humane Society International UK and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta).
Under EU rules the UK cannot currently ban imports of animal fur, which is produced in several European countries, the campaigners said. But they are calling on the Government to use Brexit as an opportunity to make the UK a fur-free zone.
At 10 Downing Street ! Petition handed in – calling for nothing less than a
COMPLETE BAN in FUR… https://t.co/ANgggPn9jN
— Dr. Brian May (@DrBrianMay) March 26, 2018
May said: “In light of the now proven appalling cruelty in the production of fur, it’s time to make a stand. Fur that did not grow on us has no place in a decent society.”
A spokesman for Fur Free Britain said: “Hundreds of thousands of British people have supported our call for a Fur Free Britain, so we hope Mrs May will take decisive action to address the current double standard of fur cruelty. Britain made its stance on fur clear almost two decades ago by banning fur farming because it’s unethical, so it makes no sense to still be importing hundreds of million of pounds of fur from animals who have endured horrific cruelty in other countries. It’s time the UK pulled the plug on the fur trade.”
More than a quarter of the signatures were gathered for a UK Government and Parliament petition started by Diane Bartlett and Catherine Reda, which has collected the 100,000 signatures needed to secure a parliamentary debate.
A spokesman for the Environment Department (Defra) said: “The Government shares the British public’s high regards for animal welfare. After we leave the EU we plan to retain the current regulations banning the import of cat and dog fur and products, and seal skins and products from commercial hunts. We are also considering whether further steps could be taken outside the European Union.”