Danish Police Jail Anti-Fur Activists Before Protest

For Immediate Release:
February 3, 1999

Contact:
Toni Vernelli: +44 1273 508 384

Copenhagen — As furriers gathered to push their bloody pelts at last weekend’s fur auction, three anti-fur protesters were arrested as they made plans for a peaceful protest and were kept in jail by the authorities until the fur sale ended.

Danish police arrested PETA Europe members Diane Sanderson of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Liz Turner of Plymouth, and Toni Vernelli of Vancouver, Friday afternoon as they stood across from the Copenhagen Fur Centre. The three activists were to carry signs and distribute leaflets outside the fur auction on Saturday, to let consumers know how animals are abused and cruelly killed for their pelts. Jailed for 24 hours, threatened with six days of imprisonment and deportation, denied access to legal advice and embassy representation, the women were only released after the fur auction ended late Saturday.

PETA’s anti-fur campaign has helped keep fur sales cold by keeping consumers focused on the fact that animals are trapped, drowned or beaten to death in the wild, and gassed, strangled or electrocuted on fur farms

“Our protests have taken us to the streets in Paris, New York and Taiwan–we’ve even marched naked through Red Square and Hong Kong–but we have never experienced such bizarre arrest and imprisonment as in Denmark”, says PETA Europe Director Ingrid Newkirk. “But we will return to the fur auction again next year. Consumers have a right to know the abuse animals endure before they’re made into coats”.