Anti Fur Demonstration at Springbrook Fur Farm 2012

An anti fur demonstration was held today Nov 23^rd , 2012 at Springbrook Fur Farm on 1561 Berletts Rd in St. Agatha (Waterloo Region). The farm has 9 sheds housing approximately 30-50 thousand mink which have been slaughtered for their pelts annually since 1982.

15 activists armed only with megaphones and anti-fur signs blockaded the entrance to the farm from 1-3pm. Demonstrators chanted such slogans as: “1,2,3,4 we don’t want your bloody fur 5,6,7,8 stop the cruelty, liberate” and “No blood for vanity.”

The demonstration was held as part of Fur Free Friday which is a global day of action against the antiquated fur industry in response to the cruel and inhumane practice of fur farming and fur wearing. The minks at the farm are confined to small cages which over time cause depression and erratic behaviours such as swaying and repetitive harmful activities. Minks are aquatic animals and have no access to water in which they can swim or soil in which they can burrow which is a fundamental part of their animal lifecycle. The minks suffer further during slaughter season as they are killed by means of anal electrocution and/or suffocating with gas, in order not to ruin the pelts.

3 waterloo region police officers were observing the demonstration from their vehicles as the activists chanted and made speeches about the abolition of the fur industry. The farm appeared to have hired additional security for the demonstration, as men wearing militaristic uniforms would periodically drive through the farm on ATV’s and go talk to the attending officers parked at the side of the road. The security personnel also spent time photographing the demonstrators and their vehicles. Despite intimidation by security forces, two delivery vehicles en route to the fur farm were turned away, the second truck leaving only after a lot of angry shouts and an intense stand off with demonstrators. One of the residents of the farm arrived in her van (from the main road) only to be periodically detained before pulling up to the driveway and physically pushing her way through the crowd of demonstrators all shouting “shame on you”. Luckily no one was injured.

A lot of support from the community was seen in the form of passerby’s honking their car horns in support for the demonstration. Some neighbours were also seen coming out of their houses to see what all the commotion was about.

As the demonstration wound down, 2 activists including one wearing a gorilla costume ran onto the interior of the property to get a closer look at the mink cages but eventually surrendered to police after being surrounded by 2 police cars and one police SUV. Two trespassing tickets were issued and the demonstration was concluded.