Fur Shops Raise Protesters’ Hackles; Students Organize Beach Picketing

Hand-printed signs in hand, an eclectic group of protesters lined a small strip of Coast Highway in Laguna Beach on Sunday, urging passers-by not to buy or wear furs.

They were apparently successful. Just about everyone walking by was dressed in bikinis or tank tops and shorts.

The protest along Main Beach was the work of Antonio Aguilar, a 16-year-old sophomore at Laguna Beach High School who wants a local store to stop selling furs.

Actually, the boutique, two blocks away, has done just that, although not because of the protest. This is not the fur-selling season, a spokeswoman for Odeon said. But Sheri Gareri, who is in charge of the Laguna Beach store, said she expects the mink and fox coats to be back on the racks later this year, in time for fall and winter.

While it is the protesters’ right to demonstrate, Gareri said, “they cannot stop business. It is millions of dollars of investment.”

Antonio, a member of the high school’s Young Liberal Activists Club, said he began planning the protest several months ago, when the furs were still for sale. But he decided to go ahead with the demonstration during the hot weather anyway.

If he had held the protest during fur season “we wouldn’t get as much visibility,” he said, motioning to the beach crowd.

Antonio was joined by about 40 other anti-fur protesters, a wide-ranging group that included several youths dressed in black who refused to be interviewed. “I’m anti-media,” one said as he held up his sign.

Members of People for Reason in Science and Medicine, who oppose use of animals in

experimentation; the Vegetarian Society of Southern California, and the Society Against Vivisection also showed up.

So did Antonio’s mother, Linda, who said she supports her son. “I’m proud he’s acting on what he believes,” she said.

Even horror-movie maven Elvira was there, in spirit.

“It’s caring individuals like yourselfs who will bring an end to the fur trade by making young people aware that a fur coat only looks beautiful on the original owner,” Cassandra Peterson (a.k.a. Elvira) wrote in a telegram.

Animal-rights activist Bob Barker sent this message of support: “I applaud your efforts on behalf of the pathetic animals that are tortured and killed to produce fur coats. Let us hope that in the not-too-distant future the fur industry will be a thing of the past.”

The protesters Sunday carried signs with such slogans as “Fur--The Ultimate Sadist Symbol,” “Outlaw Animal Murder,” and “Furs Are Worn by Beautiful Animals and Ugly People.”

They displayed pictures of animals in pain, their limbs caught in traps. Many protesters said that they are vegetarians and that they wear shoes not made of leather.

Trapping is cruel to animals, and the steel jaws catch pets and other animals, not just the foxes and raccoons wanted for their furs, said Vic Forsythe, president of the Vegetarian Society of Southern California. He wants Orange County to outlaw trapping.

While trapping is not a big business here, “it would be symbolic,” he said.

There are other options to wearing furs, he said: “We’re not in Siberia. There’s no need for it.”

Antonio said most of the tourists and shoppers passing by the protesters were supportive, and a few even picked up signs and joined the protesters.

The youth said he had “always had a passion for animals” and became concerned about the killing of animals for furs after seeing a TV program. He decided several months ago that he wanted to organize a rally, then looked for a fur-selling store to protest against.

Antonio said he went in Odeon once to warn the store operator that he would organize a rally if the boutique continued to sell furs.

Even if Odeon does not stop, Antonio said he hopes the city will deny business licenses in the future to stores that plan to sell furs.

“It isn’t fashion,” Antonio said. “I don’t see how a bunch of little animal skins tied together can be a fashion statement.”

But Gareri of Odeon said there is a big demand in Laguna Beach and Orange County for furs, although she said she did not know how many coats her boutique has sold. She said the protesters’ claims are misleading because most furs come from animals farmed for their skins.

“They raise them to make those coats,” she said. “It’s comparable to raising animals for food. They’re not wild animals.”

As the protesters held up their signs and passed out leaflets, nearby beach-goers tanned their skins obliviously.

Wanda Ballard, a member of People for Reason in Science and Medicine, acknowledged that few on the sand behind her were watching the protesters.

“I think they’re paying attention to the other guys and girls,” said Ballard, who carried a sign showing a woman dragging a fur coat and leaving a trail of blood.

“But we’re not trying to attract those people,” she said.

Her target, she said, is “women who think they look beautiful in the skin of a dead animal.”

Another protester added that the time and place of the protest was appropriate. Orange County is “a center of affluence and wealth,” she said.

“It would do no good to do this (protest) in the winter when nobody is here.”