Thumbs up to Pete Wedderburn, better known as Pete the Vet, for strongly condemning cruel fur farming and calling for a ban.
“Mink are wild creatures, and so it is inherently cruel to keep them in the small cages that are used to house them,” Pete stated in a Wicklow Times article. “They spend their short lives being terrified by the humans who tend to them, and they cannot exhibit their normal, natural behaviour. They pace up and down, continually stressed. And when they reach the end of their lives, they are gassed to death in a way that many independent observers believe is INHUMANE.”
The popular vet added: “Fur farming has been banned in many European countries for these reasons: it's time for Ireland to join this group of animal-caring countries.”
Pete Wedderburn is one of Ireland’s most high profile defenders of animals, featuring regularly on TV and on the Pat Kenny radio show on Newstalk.
He has previously spoken out against hare coursing, fox hunting and the export of Irish greyhounds to China.
Speaking on the Pat Kenny show in 2017, he denounced hare coursing, saying: "I don't approve of coursing at all. I can't understand why people want to chase sentient creatures for fun. I don't get it at all."
Responding to a comment from Pat Kenny that even though the dogs are muzzled, "the hare is terrified", Pete agreed, saying "The hare doesn't know the dogs are muzzled. As far as they are concerned, they are being chased to their death. They have the same fear."
"In my perfect world, there would be no such thing as coursing," he added.
In 2015, he expressed support for an end to fox hunting and other blood sports, tweeting to ICABS: "I would support your calls for a ban. Can see no justification for blood sports."
Pete the Vet’s position on fur farming mirrors that of Veterinary Ireland which has recently come out in favour of a ban.
Speaking on RTE Radio 1 last month, Veterinary Ireland’s Dr Mark Dalton called on the government to ban fur farming, saying “we in Ireland need to be on the right side of history.”
“Mink in [fur] farms do not have a life worth living in any way,” Dr Dalton told listeners. “In the wild, these are solitary animals and they are semi-aquatic animals. Typically they have a river boundary that is all theirs, up to 7 km long. If they meet, they fight. The only time they meet and don’t fight is when they meet to mate and then they separate again. They don’t like each other and we are putting them in farms right beside each other in tiny metal cages...Mink are not social animals.”
“I’m not here today to persuade the people of Ireland that fur farming should be banned because 80 per cent of them are already against it. There was a Red C poll that showed that. I am here to ask the Minister to please change his mind [and ban fur farming],” he added.
ACTION ALERT
Urge Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader, Leo Varadkar, to put in place a long overdue ban on fur farming.
Leo Varadkar TD
Department of the Taoiseach
Merrion Street, Dublin 2
Phone: +353 (0)1-6194000 OR +353 (0)1-6403133, +353 (0)1-6194598 (Constituency Office)
Email: leo.varadkar@oir.ie, leoconstituency@taoiseach.gov.ie, finegael@finegael.ie
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeoVaradkar
Email “Please vote in favour of a ban on cruel fur farming” to all Fine Gael TDs
maria.bailey@oireachtas.ie, sean.barrett@oireachtas.ie, pat.breen@oireachtas.ie, colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie, richard.bruton@oireachtas.ie, peter.burke@oireachtas.ie, catherine.byrne@oireachtas.ie, Ciaran.Cannon@oireachtas.ie, joe.carey@oireachtas.ie, corcorankennedy@eircom.net, Simon.Coveney@oireachtas.ie, michael.creed@oireachtas.ie, michael.darcy@oireachtas.ie, Jim.Daly@oireachtas.ie, john.deasy@oireachtas.ie, Pat.Deering@oireachtas.ie, Regina.Doherty@oireachtas.ie, Paschal.Donohoe@oireachtas.ie, andrew.doyle@oireachtas.ie, bernard.durkan@oireachtas.ie, damien.english@oireachtas.ie, Alan.Farrell@oireachtas.ie, frances.fitzgerald@oir.ie, peterm.fitzpatrick@oireachtas.ie, charles.flanagan@oireachtas.ie, Brendan.Griffin@oireachtas.ie, Simon.Harris@oireachtas.ie, Martin.Heydon@oireachtas.ie, Heather.Humphreys@oireachtas.ie, paul.kehoe@oireachtas.ie, enda.kenny@oireachtas.ie, Sean.Kyne@oireachtas.ie, josepha.madigan@oireachtas.ie, helen.mcentee@oireachtas.ie, joe.mchugh@oireachtas.ie, Tony.McLoughlin@oireachtas.ie, Mary.MitchellOConnor@oireachtas.ie, Dara.Murphy@oireachtas.ie, Eoghan.Murphy@oireachtas.ie, hildegarde.naughton@oireachtas.ie, tom.neville@limerick.ie, michael.noonan@oireachtas.ie, kate.oconnell@oireachtas.ie, Patrick.O'Donovan@oireachtas.ie, fergus.odowd@oireachtas.ie, JohnPaul.Phelan@oireachtas.ie, michael.ring@oireachtas.ie, noel@noelrock.ie, david.stanton@oir.ie, leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie
Please also email all the Fianna Fail TDs
billykelleher@eircom.net,sean.haughey@oireachtas.ie,Bobby.Aylward@oireachtas.ie,brendan.smith@oireachtas.ie,johncurranff@gmail.com,Charlie.McConalogue@oireachtas.ie,michael.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie,sean.ofearghail@oireachtas.ie,john.brassil@oireachtas.ie,darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie,eamon.ocuiv@oireachtas.ie,jackie.cahill@oireachtas.ie,john.mcguinness@oireachtas.ie,mattie.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie,micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie,michael.moynihan.td@oireachtas.ie,niall.collins@oireachtas.ie,coper@eircom.net,Robert.Troy@oireachtas.ie,thomas.byrne@oireachtas.ie,timmy.dooley@oireachtas.ie,barry.cowen@oireachtas.ie,fiona@fiona.ie,declan.breathnach@oireachtas.ie,mary.butler@oireachtas.ie,kevin.okeeffe@oireachtas.ie,dara.calleary@oireachtas.ie,escanlonmcc@eircom.net,sean.fleming@oireachtas.ie,niamh.smyth@oireachtas.ie,james@jameslawless.ie,shane.cassells@oireachtas.ie,willie.odea@oireachtas.ie,margaret.murphyomahony@oireachtas.ie,anne.rabbitte@oireachtas.ie,eugene.murphy@oireachtas.ie,jack.chambers@outlook.com,james.browne@oireachtas.ie,john.lahart@oireachtas.ie,lisa.chambers@oireachtas.ie,marc.macsharry@oireachtas.ie,jim.ocallaghan@oireachtas.ie,pat.casey@oireachtas.ie,aindrias.moynihan@oireachtas.ie,frankorourke1@gmail.com
Please contact all your local TDs and urge them to support Solidarity's bill. Contact details for TDs can be found at https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/?term=/ie/oireachtas/house/dail/32
Find out more about Solidarity's Bill at
https://www.facebook.com/banbloodsports/videos/1750869355028615/
VIDEOS
Mink screaming on an Irish fur farm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cP1nQ5pdSY
ICABS footage - Victims of Ireland's cruel far farming
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=artr7qwCLLk&index=2&list=PL43C1F00F38986C68
NARA footage showing caged mink in a fur farm in Donegal
https://www.facebook.com/NARAcampaignsIRELAND/videos/1694193503937318/
Mink pulled from cages and thrown into gassing box
https://youtu.be/m52k4aPXahU?t=3m6s