Fading out the Animal Individuals
The cutting up of the animal pelt into trimmings and appliqués, dyeing and shaving them, disguises fur from what it is, and makes it appear like the fabric with which the fur is combined. At other times, fur is being knitted as "fur thread", turned inside out, printed on. Sewn on to jackets, coats, scarves and gloves -as real fur trimming or garnish-, we are led to forget that the fur ever belonged to the body of an animal individual, to a being with consciousness, joy, sadness, wishes and interests.
The animal individual remains faded out. Nothing on the fur reminds one of the deprivation of freedom lasting seven month, of the farm cage which is 20 million times (for foxes) to 30 million times (for mink) smaller than the area which "fur animals" inhabit in the wild. Nothing on the processed fur reminds one of the penetrating smell of the excrement, which falls through bars and piles up directly underneath the cage. Nothing reminds one of the monotony of the farm, the stress of the cramped conditions, of cannibalism. Fur does not remind one of the fear and the agony, the death throes at the time of the "harvest" (That is how fur farmers refer to the killing of the "fur animals", which takes place at piece rate in winter). The animal rights/animal liberation movement and the ESCADA-Campaign are taking on a mission to stress the acts of violence commited by the fur industry, to draw attention to the perpetrators and collaborators, to rid them of their anonymity and to remember the animal victims....