The Lord Mayors Who Parade Compassion

A few weeks ago, we reported the excellent news that the mayor of Wrexham, David Bithell, had ditched his ceremonial robes after a compassionate PETA supporter pointed out that they contained real fur.

That set us off to wondering how many other mayors around the country were still using robes with real fur, perhaps without even realising. So we decided to write to each and every one of England’s lord mayors to find out – and, of course, to request that they go fur-free!

Sixteen mayors wrote back with a positive response. The mayors of Plymouth and York both told us that they are going to refurbish their robes and replace real fur with a humane, synthetic-fur trim, a great move that sets a positive example. The mayors of Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Coventry, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Norwich, Nottingham, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Stoke-on-Trent and Warwick all confirmed to us that their robes are also fur-free.

It’s an impressive list – but there is still a question mark over too many councils, who have failed to establish a clear policy against fur or have yet to turn their back on an outrageously cruel industry which gasses, drowns and electrocutes animals before stealing and selling their skins.

Given that, according to a recent survey, 95 per cent of Brits are opposed to wearing real fur and fur farming has been illegal in this country for more than 10 years, it’s outrageous for any of our public figures to be clothing themselves in skins ripped from animals’ backs. Compassionate is the way forward!

If your lord mayor is not included on the list above, please consider writing him or her a quick message requesting that any ceremonial robes containing real fur are replaced with humane faux fur, and let us know how you get on.

Image: Lee J Haywood / CC BY-SA 2.0