AARC have had two demonstrations against Duchess. The first demonstration was quite a wet experience with an angry bald man from the shop showering us with buckets of water, claiming to be "washing the windows". Legally, this would be counted as assault, but although the police were called (by the shop owners) they didn't bother showing up. The second demonstration the angry bald man was noticeably absent. We were outside for over an hour with many pedestrians giving us verbal support. A member of AARC went inside to try to engage them in discussion about the selling of fur, but was met with hostility and denial of the sale of fur in their store.
In the past, fur shops that have agreed to remove fur from their shop have continuously put it back when we are not there. Particularly on Saturdays, shops seem to put their fur items out the back and put it back on the shelves during the week. Or they claim to have sold the item and just send it to another store. This shows us that they do not take the issue of animal abuse seriously and do not actually care about the dead tortured body parts of animals they sell as "fashion" in their stores. It is not good enough, and even if they do not display items of fur on the shelves on Saturday's when we are protesting, this does not equal to an agreement to stop selling, stocking, producing and ordering fur items. We will not stop short of a fur free policy.
Fur farming is an extremely cruel and unnecessary practice, factory farms in Asia and Europe producing rabbit, fox, mink and other animal furs involve painful and torturous processes for the animals. They are bred and raised in cages where they are deprived of their natural behaviours and develop psychological disorders that often lead to self-mutilation and cannibalism. Undercover footage of fur farms have exposed the disgusting conditions in which these animals live in and the cruel killing methods that are used, sometimes skinning animals alive. Killing methods involve anal electrocution, neck-breaking, gassing and strangling.
Help us stop Duchess's involvement and support for animal abuse!
There will be a demonstration this Saturday 12noon, outside of Duchess (47 Nuffield St, Newmarket)
If you cannot make demonstrations, you can make your opinions known by contacting them at:
Address:
47 Nuffield Street
Newmarket
Auckland
New Zealand
Phone: +64 9 5200441
Website: www.duchessduke.co.nz
Email: info@duchessduke.co.nz
The campaign to make Auckland Fur Free is continuing this year with regular demos being held outside stores selling fur. This week two protests were held against Orange Girl and Country Theme, both of whom are selling fur. The protests went reasonably well with quite a few conversations held by passers by. The worker at Orange Gal agreed with our cause and wants the fur removed but admitted being frightened of the owner and said no one could talk to him. This fits well with out past experience of the man who has previously tried to attack us with a metal bar. At the other store the owner told us of how she feeds a cat colony every day. Despite being disgusted at the prospect of selling cat fur she could not make the link that rabbits like cats are capable of feeling pain and there suffering is the same as any other animal – including humans.
Whilst the campaign is relatively successful it looks like the fight to make Auckland Fur Free will be a long term campaign. This winter has seen a noticeable increase in the amount of fur being sold and noticeably more people are wearing it. As a result we will be doing weekly demonstrations. Please contact us if you see fur being sold in stores around Auckland.
If you would like to get involved in our campaign or would like leaflets and information please contact us at animalrightscollective@gmail.com 
