Activists clad in underwear with red body paint protest against the use of fur in
Buenos Aires June 25 2008. Photo Reuters
In a previous nude demonstration, PETA protesters say that animals are anally electrocuted, gassed, or their necks are broken and skinned alive just for the sake of fashion. “In this day and age there is no excuse for fur when there are so many alternatives.”
The AnimaNaturalis organization — an international animal activist group — says, “Nowadays it is not necessary to kill animals to get their fur. Animals need their fur, we don’t.”
A group of “bleeding” women lie during a demonstration in Buenos Aires June 25, 2008.
Photo AFP / Juan Mabromata / Getty Images
Make-up artist paints with false blood a group of people in Buenos Aires June 25, 2008.
Photo AFP / Juan Mabromata / Getty Images
Group of “bleeding” people lie in Buenos Aires on June 25, 2008.
Photo AFP / Juan Mabromata / Getty Images
The organization equates the human use of animals for their fur to the murder of millions of people by National Socialist Germany, stating, “The word ‘holocaust’ can be applied to the animal holocaust as well as to the Jews, without diminishing the importance of the latter.”
“The comparison is valid from the moment that both are seized and placed in cages (concentration camps). Both are tortured and die of hunger as it frequently happens to egg-laying chickens. Both are finally murdered.”
More than 150 nude protesters made headlines in Barcelona Spain on January 27 this year in a silent demonstration to denounce the use of animals to make fur coats that was organized by AnimaNaturalis, which has staged similar protests in Mexico, Ecuador and Argentina.
Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina, June 25, 2008. Photo Xinhua
Buenos Aires, June 25, 2008. Photo Reuters
Buenos Aires, June 25, 2008. Photo Reuters
The protest took place at exactly noon just as worshipers were arriving for Mass. Worshipers found themselves greeted to a throng of protesters curled up fetal style, and covered in what was meant to appear as blood on the steps of the Saint Eulalia Cathedral.
In a scene reminiscent of a bloodbath, the number of protesters involved in the “Nude against Fur” demonstration was to symbolize the average number of animals it takes to make 1 fur coat, they laid on the steps of the Gothic Cathedral in Barcelona city center that bears the name of a young virgin martyr of Roman times.
Buenos Aires, Argentina, June 25, 2008. Photo Xinhua
Buenos Aires, Argentina, June 25, 2008. Photo Reuters
Barcelona, Spain January 31 2008. Photo Lohasian
The event was also to call attention to the fact that Spain, together with Greece, Germany and Italy are key manufacturers of fur coats according to the animal rights group AnimaNaturalis.
A spokesman for the group said the Cathedral steps were a natural place because many people chose to wear fur to church and the nearby Opera house Liceu.
The protesters displayed placards saying “How many lives does it take to make a coat?”
A press release cited, “Millions of fox, mink, nutria, lynx, beavers, chinchillas, and other species are raised in captivity or cruelly trapped in order to strip them of the fur that they need. Nothing justifies the use of animal skins.”
AnimaNaturalis also opposes Hispanic customs such as bullfighting, dog fights and cockfights.
Barcelona, Spain January 31 2008. Photo Lohasian
Barcelona, Spain January 31 2008. Photo Lohasian
Protesters covered in red paint to resemble blood, on steps of the
Cathedral of Santa Eulalia, Barcelona. Photo AFP
Nudity has a tradition in Barcelona of political and religious purposes that pre-dates modern animal rights activists. Saint Eulalia is the co-patroness of Barcelona and the Cathedral of Barcelona, as well as sailors.
Legend has it that the young Eulalia was exposed naked in a public square during the 4th century A.D. persecution of early Christians by the emperor Diocletian, when a miraculous snowfall covered the martyr’s nudity.
Enraged by the miracle, her Roman torturers placed Eulalia in a barrel studded inside with blades and rolled it down a street (now known as ‘Baixada de Santa Eulalia’) to her death.
Buried in the cathedral crypt, her feast day is February 12th. A hymn was written for the Saint in Visigothic times, which was preserved by the Mozarabic Rite of southern Spain.
For more information on AnimaNaturalis visit their website.
PETA Activists Go Nude for Fur
Sources: Spero News, The Lohasian, and AnimaNaturalis
Tags:animal animals Argentina Barcelona bizarre Buenos Aires clothing coats demonstration fur odd protesters rights Saint Eulalia Cathedral Spain unusual SHARETHIS.addEntry ({ title: “Nude Fur Protesters Bleed for Animals”, url: “http://www.lifeinthefastlane.ca/nude-fur-protesters-bleed-for-animals/offbeat-news” });
Emily loves animals so much that she can’t resist bringing them home. When a local farmer feels under the weather, she is only too eager to “feed the lambs, milk the cows and brush the rams.” The farmer is so grateful for Emily’s help that he gives her a giant egg... Can you guess what happens after that? The rhythmic verse begs to be read aloud, and the lively pictures will delight children as they watch Emily’s collection of pets get bigger and bigger. 
