The latest news from Mark and the team at ‘Respect for Animals’, Nottingham England.

Web – http://www.respectforanimals.org/

Pressure On The Government For A Fur Free UK

Three senior Labour frontbenchers have written to the government calling for a fur ban in the UK.

Emily Thornberry, Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade, Ed Miliband, Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Energy, and Luke Polland, Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, wrote to Liz Truss earlier this month.

The letter denounces the fur trade as ‘barbarous’ and ‘unnecessary’, adding:

“Britain led the way in abolishing fur farming two decades ago, but we still contribute significantly to this cruel and outdated global trade by importing and exporting tens of millions of pounds worth of fur and fur products each year.

“Annually, more than 100 million animals worldwide are bred and killed for their fur, living their short lives in miserable, painful confinement.

“Millions more are trapped in the wild, left in agony for long periods before they are killed.

“All too often nowadays, this dreadful suffering is endured simply to provide the fur trim on gloves, hats, hoods, and other fashion accessories.”

Last year Respect for Animals composed an Early Day Motion calling for a ban on fur imports and sales, which was submitted with support from MPs across the political divide. Early Day Motion 267 (‘Real Fur Imports’) has since become the second most popular EDM in this session, which 139 signatures so far.

British Citizens ONLY – TAKE ACTION!

Please write to your MP and urge them sign our Early Day Motion (267).
If your MP has already signed or does not sign EDMs generally, then please urge them to write to the government calling for action.

• Find out your MP’s contact details here.
• See who has signed so far here
• You can find a template email to copy and paste by clicking here or feel free to use your own words.. 

We need to put maximum pressure on ministers in order to make history and achieve a Fur Free UK.

Also ….

Mink farms in Ireland will be shut down ‘by the end of the year’

Successive governments have pledged to ban fur farming in Ireland for some years now, after a campaign co-led by Respect for Animals.

Finally, the government has confirmed that mink farming will be outlawed in Ireland by the end of the year.

Banning fur farming is a part of the programme for government and was listed as a priority bill when the new year’s legislative programme was published.

It is listed for pre-legislative scrutiny this spring, meaning the Oireachtas agriculture committee will be able to examine the bill before it formally goes through the legislative process.

In early February, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue T.D.,  launched Ireland’s first over-arching Animal Welfare Strategy, which included a fur farming ban as number one priority,

He elaborated:

“Before Easter, I will bring legislation before the Oireachtas to prohibit fur farming in the State.”

The Department of Agriculture wrote to fur farmers to tell them that legislation would be moving forward this year to curb the practice.

While no formal date has been set or confirmed for the introduction of legislation, it is understood that mink farms will have to wind up their farms before the end of this year.

A compensation scheme will be put in place, although a final decision on the terms has yet to be finalised. Further consultation will take place on the shape of any scheme.

Respect for Animals is delighted at this progress and will hold the government to account in order to ensure that the horrendous process of fur factory farming is ended in Ireland once and for all in 2021.

Regards Mark