Howling Marchers Protest Killing of Wolves for Fur

While holiday shoppers looked on in curiosity, about 40 people marched with placards and howled like wolves outside a posh Rodeo Drive shopping mall Saturday in protest against the killing of gray wolves in British Columbia.

A few hours later, four protesters--two dressed as wolves--were arrested after they handcuffed themselves to a doorway of a West Hollywood fur repair shop.

They were arrested for investigation of trespassing and blocking an entrance to a business and later released on their own recognizance, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Ross Rudin said.

The demonstrations, which were organized by members of the environmental groups Earth First! and Friends of the Wolf, were conducted to draw attention to the slaughter of the gray wolf by British Columbia’s provincial government, said Morrigan Conway-Mucha, who was one of the four people arrested at about 2 p.m. outside Wild Bill’s Furs on North La Cienega Boulevard.

The others arrested were Diana Douglas, 22, Paul Richmond, 26, and Peter Bralver, 44.

“Our goal is to bring attention--especially in this area--to the idea that we have to stop the killings,” Conway-Mucha said. “If anyone buys any furs, it’s supporting the ongoing of the kill.”