Fw: Christmas Anti-Fur week at Harrods

December 11, 2006

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GO, CAFT-UK!!!

Christmas Anti-Fur Week at Harrods

Monday 18th to Sunday 24th December

Protests every day at Harrods department store, Knightsbridge, London.

http://www.caft.org.uk/harrods/harrodsfurweek.htm

You can also view demo footage here.

CAFT is stepping up the campaign to persuade Europe's largest department store to stop selling fur, with a week of action and protests every day in the week leading up to Christmas, a vital time of year when the store makes a large proportion of its annual profits. Whether or not you can make the protests, please politely email, phone, fax, write to Harrods during anti-fur week, see below for details.

Harrods is the last remaining department store in the whole country to continue selling fur. Harrods has over a million square feet of floor space, and has large amounts of real fur throughout the store, made from a wide variety of animals including fox, beaver, mink, chinchilla, wolf, coyote, rabbit and squirrel.

In recent years, CAFT has successfully campaigned to persuade the few remaining department stores in the UK selling fur, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and then Liberty, to adopt fur free policies.

That left Harrods as the only department store selling fur. In October last year we launched the Harrods campaign, and within two months, Harrods went to the High Court to obtain an injunction against CAFT and three named individuals, applying to have the protests moved away from the store.

However we vigorously defended the case, and following several setbacks for Harrods in the legal action, Harrods sacked their lawyer, the infamous Lawson Cruttenden, and appointed a new legal team.

After 6 months and four High Court hearings, estimated to have cost Harrods around £150,000, the terms of the Order they were granted were largely in line with how the protests were being conducted anyway. It emerged at the end of the hearings that Harrods had employed undercover investigators to infiltrate, and secretly film the protesters, but their evidence only strengthened our case as it showed us to be, in their words, 'calm and reasonable'.

The fact that Harrods has thrown all these resources at trying to stop the protests shows how worried they are, and how effective the protests can be.

It is vital that we now persuade Harrods to follow all the other department stores and adopt a fur-free policy.

Unlike Harvey Nichols and Selfridges, Harrods does not have branches outside London, so we are asking supporters and groups from elsewhere to travel to London to support the Christmas anti-fur week for at least one of the days. Help with travel costs and accommodation can be arranged for those who need it.

The demos will start at 12noon every day, and will go on until around 5pm or later, on some days we will be going on into the evening, but please check on the contact number below before turning up after this time.

Your help would be greatly appreciated during this vital week, whether you can spare an hour or a whole day or more.

It would also help us to plan a rota for the week if you could let us know what day(s) and times you can attend, though this isn't necessary and we would be delighted if you would just drop in to help out.

For more details contact 07899 776493, or email london

Whether or not you can make the protests, please politely email, phone, fax, write to Harrods to request that it takes the compassionate decision to n stop the sale of all real animal fur and adopt a fur-free policy. Remember to point out that fur farming is illegal in the UK, so they should come into line with the wishes of the British public and the democratic will of Parliament.

If you get any replies please forward them to us.

Harrods Ltd 87-135 Brompton RoadKnightsbridge London SW1X 7XL Telephone 020 7730 1234Fax 020 7581 0470customer.services

Harrods Corporate Service corporate.service@harrods +44 (0)20 7225 5843

Other email addresses

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Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade UK

PO Box 38

Manchester