Merchandise at Athens Fur Fair / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

High sales at Greek fur fair despite bad economy, protestors, and tight security: a look back

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Merchandise at Athens Fur Fair / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

Merchandise at Athens Fur Fair / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

by Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

Greece’s withered economy and confrontations with protestors do not deter hundreds of furriers from gathering every spring in a heavily-secured exhibition hall near Athens. They tempt primarily foreign buyers with swank display booths featuring leggy fashion models and thousands of garments made from the pelts of minks, foxes, and other animals.

As the fourth annual Athens Fur Fair approaches this year on March 27-30, Animal Issues Reporter Katerina Lorenzatos Makris takes a look back at her visit to the 2012 exhibition in this first of a series of articles including interviews with representatives from the fur industry and with animal advocates who oppose it.

‘Great success’

“’Fur Excellence in Athens 2012′ International Fur Fair finished with great success, in a critical moment for the fur industry due to the high prices in skins,” boasted a website of the Hellenic Association of Furriers, organizers of the event. “The turnover of the sales and orders placed during the exhibition is up to 30% compared to the last year’s exhibition… More than 1,700 business visitors, increased by 50% compared with those of the exhibition of 2011 visited the fair.”

Most of the buyers represented retailers from Russia, Ukraine, Siberia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Latvia, Korea, and China, according to the website.

Hellenic Association of Furriers spokesman Nikos Panagioutou told Animal Issues Reporter (AIR) that one of the reasons for the fair’s success, even during one of the worst economic epochs in Greek history, was that it spanned four days compared to only three days in 2011, allowing for more attendance.

Models on stage at Athens Fur Fair / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

Models on stage at Athens Fur Fair / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

Describing his group as “a new association that represents the younger and the stronger fur companies in Greece,” he listed additional reasons why this year’s fair saw more activity: “Publicity, interest in the sector, and the quality of the participants.”

“Most of the biggest companies in Greece are here, and there’s a strong international presence [of buyers],” he said. “All this counts in favor of the fair.”

Current high fur prices don’t slow sales, because for this commodity quality matters more than price, Panagioutou explained, adding that Greek-made fur is world-renown for its exceptional craftsmanship and value.

Impact of anti-fur activism?

When asked if anti-fur industry campaigns by animal protection groups have any effect on the demand for the product, Panagioutou replied, “What is important is not so much the impact on the market. It is more important to me that they have beaten ten persons. They have dragged them out of their cars. And what happened with one person is that they threw on her plastic red paint. It has taken her months to recover from the shock.”

Panagioutou said the incidents occurred at the 2011 Athens fur fair.

An on-site police captain who declined to give his name told AIR that he was not aware of attendees ever having been dragged out of cars or being beaten at the annual event, but confirmed that activists had thrown or sprayed paint on exhibit-goers on Friday of the 2012 fair, and had verbally confronted drivers and passengers of cars as they exited the building.

Panhellenic Animal Welfare and Environmental Federation vice president Mariza Christodoulou, a leader of one of the groups of protestors, acknowledged that members of a different activist group had thrown paint at a Athens Fur Fair attendee, but denied Panagiotou’s claim that any protestors had ever beaten or dragged Athens Fur Fair participants out of their cars.

Tight security

Police in riot gear kept protestors at a distance of several hundred meters from the Athens Fur Fair exhibit center / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

Police in riot gear kept protestors at a distance of several hundred meters away from the Athens Fur Fair exhibit center doors / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

Security for the 2012 event, held at EXPO ATHENS in the northern suburb of Anthousa, was the tightest this reporter has ever encountered at a trade show. Several police officers stood watch around the building’s exterior. Attendants directed cars into a single driveway leading into garage parking. At pedestrian entrances to the building, all visitors’ hand-carried items such as purses and backpacks were subjected to searches as thorough as those made at many airports.

A security guard examining the contents of this reporter’s waist pouch pointed to a vinyl case for eyeglasses and asked, “Is that spray?”

More guards patrolled the exhibition halls, eyeing visitors to check for the official plastic badges required for admission.

On Saturday afternoon, about two dozen police officers—many armed in riot gear and carrying what appeared to be weapons for launching tear gas canisters—kept at bay an estimated 100 protestors belonging to various groups in a spot at least a five minute walk from the exhibition building.

 

Read the next article in this series: Animals killed cruelly ‘for money and vanity,’ say fur fair protestors

Get fresh AIR! Please click on the SUBSCRIBE button above to receive an email alert when we post new articles on animal issues, including the upcoming ones in our series about the fur industry:

‘Burn the fur industry,’ say Greek anti-speciesist protestors

Animals ‘should not be sacrificed on the altar of fashion,’ says fur fair protestor

Fur trade is important to Greek economy, says industry spokesman

Interview with Mariza Christodoulou, Vice President, Panhellenic Animal Welfare and Environmental Federation

Killing animals for fur is just as necessary as killing them for food, says industry spokesman

Interview with Olga Kikou, Coordinator, Animal Rights Group, Greek Green Party

Fur industry will grow despite animal advocates’ efforts to remove ‘freedom of choice,’ spokesman predicts

Interview with Thorbjørn Schiønning, Anima (Danish animal welfare group)

Visit to a fur farm in Denmark

Interview with Ann-Mona Kulsø Larsen, Nordgaard Fur Farm (Denmark)

Interview with Jan Helleskov, Communications Chief, Magasin du Nord (department store in Copenhagen that no longer sells fur)

Interview with Jens Birger Christensen, CO, Birger Christensen (furrier in Copenhagen)

Visit to Kopenhagen Fur

Katerina Lorenzatos Makris is a career journalist, author, and editor. Credits include hundreds of articles for regional wire services and for  outlets such as National Geographic TravelerThe San Francisco ChronicleTravelers’ Tales, NBC’s Petside.com, and Examiner.com (Animal Policy Examiner), a teleplay for CBS-TV, a short story for The Bark magazine, and 17 novels for Avon, E.P. Dutton, Simon and Schuster, and other major publishers.

Together with coauthor Shelley Frost, Katerina wrote a step-by-step guide for hands-on, in-the-trenches dog rescue, Your Adopted Dog: Everything You Need to Know About Rescuing and Caring for a Best Friend in Need (The Lyons Press).

Please respect copyright law. Sharing AIR links really helps! But copying more than a couple of paragraphs of content without permission is a no-no. If you’d like to use one of AIR’s articles or one of our photographs, kindly contact us at [airinfo AT yahoo DOT com].

Copyright © 2014 Animal Issues Reporter and AnimalIssuesReporter.com.
All rights reserved.

 

"Bloody Cove" / Photo: courtesy of Oceanic Preservation Society and Save Japan Dolphins

Taiji dolphins spared from death last month may be slaughtered today

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"Bloody Cove" / Photo: courtesy of Oceanic Preservation Society and Save Japan Dolphins

“Bloody Cove” / Photo: Courtesy of Oceanic Preservation Society and Save Japan Dolphins

by Katerina Lorenzatos Makris ~

If you’re a wild bottlenose dolphin in the waters off Taiji, Japan, the hunters waiting there might have different plans for you today than they did yesterday.

September 30 was reportedly the last day of this year’s catch season when you could be somewhat sure you would not be killed. Instead of getting slaughtered and butchered for your meat, you might have been sold to an amusement park, or to a swim-with-dolphins tourist venue, or to an aquarium—either to perform the tricks you’d be taught, or to serve as what some call an “ambassador” for your species.

According to animal advocate Ric O’Barry, a deal struck between the Taiji hunters and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) required those taking dolphins from the wild in Taiji to abide by the restriction.

O’Barry, whose dolphin protection work was spotlighted in the Academy-award winning film The Cove, and his group Save Japan Dolphins say that the month of September was designated in this way so that WAZA members could buy wild bottlenose dolphins from Taiji for use in their exhibits while being able to claim that none of those animals were killed for meat during that time period, thus shielding themselves from public criticism.

However, beginning today, October 1, if you’re a bottlenose dolphin swimming near Taiji you’ll have no assurances about your fate. And if you’re a cetacean of some other type, for example a pilot whale, you were never part of the deal, because you’re not as attractive as the bottlenoses for performing or “ambassador” roles. Thus all along you’ve been more valuable to the hunters dead than alive.

WAZA “does not support the dolphin fishery”

In response to the allegations by O’Barry and others, a prominent note on the homepage of WAZA’s website provides the following “Statement of clarification”:

“WAZA does not support, and has never supported, the Taiji dolphin fishery in any way. To the contrary, WAZA has attempted to intervene directly, and has endeavoured to use its influence to bring to an end a practice which surely has no place in modern times. WAZA’s efforts will continue, through direct engagement and influence, until the practice is halted. Secondly, WAZA does not represent ALL zoos and aquariums – it represents a group of progressive and passionate conservationists who are united in support of wild animals and wild places around the world.”

In a document titled “Ethics and Animal Welfare Committee briefing on general principles and practice with particular reference to dolphin capture developments, 2010,” WAZA explains further (in part):

“There is a platform for discussion and development of new ideas and approaches because of the WAZA: JAZA [Japanese Association of Zoo and Aquariums] relationship. This is a very powerful way to work with Japanese colleagues as a tradition [marine mammal hunting] stretching back generations is subject to review within Japanese society. There has been considerable influence and the discussion continues.

“WAZA applies a clear ethical framework across a very diverse range of members and issues. The Association takes its responsibilities seriously via a dedicated committee and wide ranging formal and informal discussions. Defining issues, such as that of the methods and purpose of dolphin capture, are consistently treated with significant attention and will continue to be so. Choosing a course of constructive engagement does not equate to condoning any particular practice, but to a need to work in partnership with othercultures. This course of action has inevitably led to frustration on the part of people who have chosen a different course; however WAZA’s goal is to develop a collaborative relationship that will result in a shared standard of animal welfare and in long term wildlife conservation.”

The count so far

What seems evident is that during the past month, since the dolphin drive hunt began on September 1, as it does every year, dozens of animals have been driven into Taiji Cove and either killed for their meat or transported elsewhere to be held in captivity. At least two animal advocacy groups, Save Japan Dolphins and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, say their volunteers monitor activities in Taiji Cove daily and post data from their observations on the groups’ websites.

Another site, Ceta Base, describing itself as “a general database and resource for those interested in captive held marine mammals” unaffiliated with either animal advocacy groups or with the animal use industries, has posted the following summary covering the dates September 1 to September 17:

“Since the start of the season on September 1st, 2013 a total of 181 dolphins from two species have been driven into the cove in Taiji, Japan. Of this total 31 were slaughtered, 121 were released and 29 were live-capture. (One bottlenose dolphin was slaughtered after dying during capture process) Species captured, sold & killed include: bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops gilli) and short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus).”

Ceta Base reported as follows for the catch last year in the season spanning September 2012 to April 2013:

“Since the start of the season on September 1st, 2012 a total of 1,486 dolphins from six species have been driven into the cove in Taiji, Japan. Of this total 899 were killed, 340 were released (two of these dependent juveniles Risso’s dolphins not likely to survive) and 247 were live-capture.”

Get fresh AIR! Use the ‘SUBSCRIBE’ button above to be notified via email of new articles on this animal topic and many more.

Katerina Lorenzatos Makris is a career journalist, author, and editor. Credits include hundreds of articles for regional wire services and for  outlets such as National Geographic TravelerThe San Francisco ChronicleTravelers’ Tales, NBC’s Petside.com, and Examiner.com (Animal Policy Examiner), a teleplay for CBS-TV, a short story for The Bark magazine, and 17 novels for Avon, E.P. Dutton, Simon and Schuster, and other major publishers.

Together with coauthor Shelley Frost, Katerina wrote a step-by-step guide for hands-on, in-the-trenches dog rescue, Your Adopted Dog: Everything You Need to Know About Rescuing and Caring for a Best Friend in Need (The Lyons Press).

Please respect copyright law. Sharing AIR links really helps! But copying more than a couple of paragraphs of content without permission is a no-no. If you’d like to use one of AIR’s entire articles or one of our photographs, kindly contact us at [airinfo AT yahoo DOT com].

Copyright © 2013 Animal Issues Reporter and AnimalIssuesReporter.com.
All rights reserved

 

 

 

‘We’re going to see more questioning of the government in the future’: Sea Shepherd’s Cpt. Watson on Japan

Cpt. Paul Watson valiantly battled jet lag to speak with reporter at The Humane Society of the United States’ 2011 Genesis Awards / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

By Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

“I am presently in a place on this planet where I feel comfortable,” wrote Captain Paul Watson in a recent post to his Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS)’s website, “a safe place far away from the scheming nations who have turned a blind eye to the exploitation of our oceans.”

If the founder and president of the 35-year-old environmental protection group seems a bit vague about his whereabouts, it might be because a couple of weeks ago he jumped bail in Germany, where on May 13th he had been detained for extradition to Costa Rica. Continue reading

Sea Shepherd: ‘Nothing Japan does will stop us from returning to Antarctica this season’

Sea Shepherd’s Captain Paul Watson in a fundraising video (before his arrest) / Photo: Sea Shepherd

By Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

A middle-aged, white-haired guy recently jumped bail and left Germany.  Given the fact that doing so is not illegal, according to his attorney, perhaps it’s not uncommon.

But probably most other people who skip bail in Germany and flee its borders don’t have their own TV show—one of Animal Planet’s most highly rated ones—with more than a million viewers per episode.

And probably they don’t run a large international animal protection organization that some praise as heroic and others condemn as a gang of eco-pirates. Continue reading

‘How I became first an animal lover and second a politician’ – U.S. Congressman Sam Farr

U.S. Congressman Sam Farr in action on the floor of Congress / Photo: Congressman Sam Farr

While covering The Humane Society of the United States Taking Action for Animals (TAFA) conference recently, Animal Issues Reporter.org’s correspondent Catherine Cowan heard an impassioned speech by U.S. Congressman Sam Farr, a Democrat from California. TAFA and Rep. Farr’s staff members kindly provided the following transcript.

Speech at TAFA conference by Rep. Sam Farr:

You’ve asked a politician to say a few words tonight to a group of prominent animal lovers.

I thought it would be interesting to relate how I became first an animal lover and second a politician. Continue reading