LIMERICK animal rights campaigner John Carmody has welcomed a move by Agriculture Minister Michael Creed to bring a proposal to Government this week to phase out fur farms.
Founder of Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN), he put pressure on the government in recent months after Italian fashion house Prada pledged to keep fur out of its collection.
The Limerick man, who has campaigned for animal rights for the past 21 years, is thrilled that Ireland is set to follow the lead of 14 other EU countries, which have already banned fur farms.
“Ireland can finally hold its head up high and call itself progressive not just on rights for women and gay people, but now on animal rights too,” he told the Limerick Post.
“I applaud the hard work of thousands of compassionate and caring activists for speaking out against this cruel practice that was kept hidden from the Irish public and thank them for pressuring politicians to do the right thing. I now call on Irish people to not only turn their back on fur but also on leather, wool, silk and other skins that are painfully taken from sensitive animals.”
According to Mr Carmody, 200,000 minks are imprisoned every year in squalid cages in Ireland’s fur industry and are denied the opportunity to engage in natural types of behaviour. Animals killed for their fur, he claimed, experience painful deaths by gassing, neck-breaking, suffocation, poisoning, and genital electrocution.
“I am proud of the hard-hitting investigations, demonstrations and lobbying by Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN) over the group’s operating years that helped lay the groundwork for today’s important victory, but equally proud of the other groups such as ISPCA and Respect for Animals — it’s a wonderful day.”
