Labour Youth has called on all political parties to support Solidarity’s upcoming Prohibition of Fur Farming Bill which is due before the Dail next month.
In a statement issued this week, Patrick Ahern - the chair of Labour Youth (the youth wing of the Irish Labour Party) - said fur farming must be banned. He condemned the conditions in which mink are kept as “abusive, degrading and painful”.
“The people of Ireland are overwhelmingly opposed to our continued involvement in this barbaric industry,” he stated, “It is time to change our weak animal welfare laws to ensure that these farms are no longer allowed to torture and exploit these wild animals.” Read the full statement below.
A big thank you to Labour Youth for declaring its opposition to fur farming and support for a ban.
Last year, Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin confirmed that his party is backing a ban, saying "the Labour Party recognises that there is widespread public concern about fur farming and the conditions in which otherwise wild animals are kept in this industry. Labour supports a ban on fur farming in Ireland."
ACTION ALERT
Urge Fine Gael to follow the Labour Party, Fianna Fail, the Green Party, Sinn Fein, Independents 4 Change and the Social Democrats in pledging support for Solidarity's upcoming Prohibition of Fur Farming bill (due for debate in Dail Eireann on 2nd July, with a vote on 4th July).
Tell Taoiseach/Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, and Agriculture Minister Michael Creed that it’s time 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
Michael Creed TD
Minister for Agriculture
Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Email: michael.creed@oir.ie
Tel: 01-607 2000 or LoCall 1890-200510.
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaelcreedtd
Tweet to: @creedcnw
Email “Please vote in favour of a ban on 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
Contact Fine Gael TDs individually. Find names, constituencies and contact details at https://www.finegael.ie/our-people/tds/
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
Labour Youth Statement
FUR FARMING IN IRELAND MUST BE BANNED
10 June 2019
Labour Youth have reaffirmed their support for a ban on fur farming and called on all parties to support the Fur Farming Prohibition Bill, a vote on which is due to take place on July 4th. Speaking on the matter, Chair of Labour Youth Patrick Ahern said:
“There are currently three fur farms in this country. The farms focus mainly on the trade of Mink fur, exporting to other EU member states, Asia, North America and to other countries where the market demands for such trade.
Annually around 200,000 animals are killed across these farms in conditions many would consider to be abusive, degrading and painful.
Fur farming is banned in more than a dozen EU countries, including Austria, the Netherlands and the UK. Other places such as Switzerland have such strict regulations for fur farms to adhere to that none are actually in existence.
The people of Ireland are overwhelmingly opposed to our continued involvement in this barbaric industry. Last October, a RED C poll showed that 80% of people in Ireland agreed that fur farming should be banned.
Any animal kept in captivity by humans should be allowed to live and behave similarly to how it would in the wild. Fur farming and the fur trade, therefore, should be outlawed on the grounds of cruelty to animals and rights violations.
The measure of a good society is how it treats the voiceless. It is time to change our weak animal welfare laws to ensure that these farms are no longer allowed to torture and exploit these wild animals.”