Networking with animal activiists in other cities and states to expand our legislative power base throughout the nation. Skills trainings for animal activists from experienced political campaigners and lobbyists. Since 1996, Wetlands has been at the forefront of the fight against the fur trade. Every year 40,000 animals are killed for their fur through cruel methods including neck breaking, trapping, and anal and genital electrocution. New York City is the most important city in the US to the fur industry, home to industry journals, designers, raw pelt sellers, and hundreds of retail outlets.
More fur is sold in New York than in any other American city.
Wetlands has organized numerous actions against the fur trade, both on our own and in conjunction with the Animal Defense League, Friends of Animals, and other groups. Read on to learn about some of our recent fur actions and about Animal Defense League actions that we participated in and supported. In New York City, Wetlands and ADL have waged a high-profile campaign against Macy's, the largest fur retailer in the Federated chain, including hundreds of demonstrations, almost a dozen civil disobedience actions, extensive print, radio, and television media coverage, and distribution of close to 100.000 flyers, collection of tens of thousands of petition signatures. In a small section of Manhattan bordered by 30th Street on the West side, 6th Avenue on the East, 27th Street, on the south and 8th Avenue on the West lies the heart of an industry that views suffering, torture, and death as marketable commodities. Animal Defense League members blockade the entrance of The New York Fur Center at 333 7th Avenue to mark Fur Free Friday 1999.