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CAFT Ireland launched the country's first ever 'Fur Farm Exposé Tour' on Saturday 4th July. This was to highlight the recent undercover exposé on Irish fur farms, which can be viewed here: http://www.youtube. com/naracampaign s

We travelled to every county that has a fur farm, tabled and leafleted in the major town near each farm, and protested outside all 5 mink farms - something that has never been done before, and something that we pledge to keep doing on a regular basis.

WHAT WE DID:

PART 1 - Sat. 4th - CO. LAOIS: An information table and display was set up Portlaoise, and all the shops in the town were given bundles of leaflets for their customers. We then had a protest outside Ireland's largest fur farm, Vasa Ltd. (Vicarstown, Stradbally, Co. Laois), where 45,000 mink are murdered every year. This is the 4th time we have protested this fur farm, and as with most years, a worker had to stop at the gates to drive passed us into the farm, as we 'named and shamed' him for the blood on his hands. Vasa Ltd. is owned by Una & Michael Heffernan.

PART 2 - Sat. 11th - CO. SLIGO: An information table and display was set up in Sligo Town, and as there was an arts/street performance festival happening while we were there, our display generated a lot of interest. All the shops in the town, including those in a popular shopping centre, were given bundles of leaflets for their customers. Then we went to North West Fur Farms Ltd. (Rhue, Tubercurry, Co. Sligo), owned by Kieran Lundy. Due to the fact that the Lundy's reside right in front of their death camp, this was one of the most direct protests we've had on the tour - there was no way they could ignore us.

PART 3 - Sat. 18th - CO. KERRY: For this event we teamed up with local group, 'Fur or Against?', in Tralee. We set up a table and display together, and both groups leafleted the town and shops. Afterwards we headed to Willow Herb Ltd. (Dromkeare, Waterville, Co. Kerry), which is owned by Stefan Kolon. The gardai didn't let us get as close to the entrance of the fur farm as we would have liked to be, but the Kolon family were left in no doubt as to why we were there.

PART 4 - Sat. 25th - Co. Donegal: For the finale of our tour, we spent 2 days in Donegal, where we teamed up with the Donegal Vegan group in Letterkenny. An information table was set up, and the whole town was leafleted. Out of all the places we've been to, Letterkenny was one of the most receptive - with all but one shop eager to take bundles of leaflets from us. When we finished there, we went to protest Tazetta Ltd. (Drumnalough, Glenties, Co. Donegal), which is owned by Sven Sjoholm. Sven, his wife Monica, and a number of workers watched us throughout the entire protest - they even used a camcorder on us and spent a lot of time taking pictures. We didn't care, but still found it quite strange! What are they so worried about, I wonder?

Anyway, after that, we went to Rolf Andersson Mink Farms Ltd. (Ardara, Killybegs, Co. Donegal), which is owned by Rolf Andersson. This is the farm you see at the beginning of the exposé video, with 5 mink to a cage, and faeces covered cages. The farm is the most hidden one we've been too, it's completely surrounded by trees. And they don't even stop at mink when it comes to abusing animals - they have an Alsatian chained up at the entrance of the farm. Rolf was just as uptight as Sven when he saw us, with camcorder in hand. I'm sure after decades of murdering animals went unnoticed, they assumed no one would ever stand up against them.

The following day, we leafleted Letterkenny again, and then a smaller group of us drove back to Tazetta Ltd. for a quick protest before heading back to Dublin.

By organising this tour, we weren't just representing our group, we were representing the whole country. It is time these farmers knew that the Irish people will no longer tolerate what they are doing.

We distributed literally thousands of leaflets in each town, and we've had a fair amount of media coverage for the tour too. Local newspapers published pieces on the campaign, and I've done a number of radio interviews as well. I even had a live debate with Sven Sjoholm on Highland Radio Station this week.

Our campaign is not about improving welfare standards, such giving them bigger cages - we are fighting for empty cages. It is unacceptable for fur farming to continue in this country. Just because it is currently legal, doesn’t make it morally acceptable. Everyone involved in this barbaric industry has blood on their hands and should be ashamed of themselves. There is absolutely no justification for wearing real fur.

We are not asking for an end to fur farming - we’re demanding it. The Department of Agriculture better be listening, because we will not let this barbaric industry continue, and we will not accept a phase-out ban.