Animal Rights Protests

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and deserve to exist on their own terms, not just as means to human ends. By 1985, ten years after Peter Singer's watershed treatise was first published, dozens of animal rights groups had sprung up and were starting to savor their first successes. In 1994 Paul Shapiro, then a student at Georgetown Day School, didn't feel these non-profits were agitating aggressively enough for the cause. He founded Compassion Over Killing to mobilize animal rights activists in the Washington metropolitan area and "throw animal exploiters out of business." Since then, COK has expanded to over 300 members with chapters across the country, including one at American University, which formed in the fall of 1996. COK organizes protests as a primary activity of the group, although some chapters may choose to expand into other areas if they wish. COK's focus on direct-action protests and demonstrations is just one way that the animal rights movement has mobilized to end the fur trade. The larger ...

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the debate over fur. COK refers to the industry in criminal terms; fur is directly equated with murder and those involved in the industry are labeled killers. Industry groups like the Fur Information Council of America (FICA) always describes fur garments as objects and clothing; it is "the ultimate cold weather fabric" that is "your fashion choice." On Saturday, April 12th, Compassion Over Killing demonstrated outside the White House, protesting the Clinton administration's opposition to a European Community ban on the importation of fur coats made from animals caught in the wild. In addition, the demonstration called for the release of several Animal Liberation Front (ALF) members ...

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