COMING TOGETHER ON FUR FREE FRIDAY

by Priya Sawhney

Thank you all for being a part of a global event against an industry of brutal violence. Thank you all for being here to remind the world that there are innocent victims who are paying with their lives to fuel this vicious cycle of consumerism. Thank you all for being present today, on Fur Free Friday.

Like many of you here, when I first became involved in Animal Rights, I was haunted by the images of animals in fur farms. Within the cold cages of these ghastly places, these innocent animals know nothing more than darkness, pain, and misery. From within these filthy cages, their eyes desperately look out to an unfamiliar world, a world which they were born into, but a world which they will never get to experience as they were meant to.

For years now, people have protested on this day. For years now, animal rights activists have united on this day, for years now, the voices of change within the animal rights movement have demanded and made significant progress in awakening the public conscience to the violence of the fur industry. Yet today, this industry flourishes and the violence continues. And though there are reasons to rejoice, we must take a pause and think of the animals who continue to be electrocuted, poisoned, and subjected to unimaginable mental and physical torture.

This day represents our promise to the animals killed by the fur industry. A promise that though the screams of these innocent animals may have been silenced, we will not forget them. We will condemn the taking of their skins, the brutalization of their of their bodies, and the degradation of their lives, year after year after year, until this violence finally stops.

This day symbolizes our opposition to a culture which condones consumerism and normalizes violence.

But most importantly, this day symbolizes unity within the Animal Rights Movement. Activists all across the nation are speaking out and taking action on this day.

We will cherish this unity and ask of each other to be united against violence of all sorts. Let us unite behind a strong message of Animal Liberation. Let us speak out for the animals being killed by the fur industry and for all animals killed by all industries. Let us unite against speciesism to fulfill our promise to all the animals of this world. A promise that we will share their stories, we will share their desires to be safe, happy, and free, and we will fight for their freedom, day after day after day, until every animal is free.