Two Arrested in Protest at Fur Auction

By the Associated Press State & Local Wire.

RENTON, Washington, Feb. 22, 1999: Two protesters were arrested Monday when demonstrators blocked traffic as a four-day fur auction got under way at the Seattle Fur Exchange, an organizer said.

Jake Conroy, 23, of Seattle and Matt Whyte, 16, of Orange, Calif., were taken from the scene by police officers, said organizer J.P. Goodwin of the Dallas-based Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade.

"They were blocking the driveway ... slowing traffic" as people arrived for the sale, Goodwin said. He said he did not know why White was not in school.

The adult is being investigated for third-degree assault - a felony charge employed for interference with a public servant or medical personnel, said police spokeswoman Penny Bartley.

She said she did not know much about the circumstances, except that it "involved pushing an officer." A decision on whether to send the case on to prosecutors will be made within 72 hours, Bartley said.

The juvenile, arrested for malicious mischief, was released before noon, she said. That case likely will be forwarded to juvenile prosecutors for a charging decision.

Industry officials were not fazed by the demonstrators.

"I'm beginning to think there's a core of about a dozen of them - conflict gypsies that rove around the country," said Teresa Platt, executive director of the San Diego-based Fur Commission USA, which represents the farmers' marketing co-op that owns the exchange.

"They're opposed to human ownership and use of animals. That's where I think they're misguided," Platt said.

"We are locked into an eternal symbiosis with these creatures - they depend on us and we depend on them," she said, citing use of funds from animal-use operations to finance research and habitat conservation, population management and other programs, and the use of byproducts from dairy, fish-farm and other agricultural operations to feed fur-farm animals.

"We depend on the animals today as much as we did at the beginning of time," Platt said.

The fur-farm industry is regulated by the U.S. Agriculture Department, using standards developed by the American Veterinary Medical Association, she said. Trappers are monitored by state and federal wildlife officials who regulate "harvests, seasons, techniques - everything."

While Seattle is not a center for fur wearing - Goodwin said a check of the Yellow Pages turned up very few retail fur listings - the exchange is the third-largest fur auction house in the world, behind operations in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Helsinki, Finland.

Sales of skins from wild-caught animals were scheduled Monday, he said, with sales of pelts from farmed creatures to start Tuesday.

The exchange has two sales a year, and the current auction has drawn buyers from 23 countries, Platt said. Another auction house, in the New York- New Jersey area, is co-owned by management and fur farmers.

The protests began Sunday at a Tukwila hotel where many of the buyers and fur farmers are staying, he said. A coffin containing several furs - many donated by former fur wearers - was burned to protest the trapping and farming of fur-bearing animals for the trade.

The cruelty of the industry is at issue, Goodwin said, adding that "when you're dealing with living creatures, you need to take their interests into consideration as well."

About 60 protesters turned out Monday, he said, though many had gone "to warm up" at mid-morning, or to report to their jobs before returning during the lunch hour. Goodwin said another demonstration was planned Tuesday.

He said he is a vegetarian but noted that some people who eat meat nonetheless oppose the fur trade, making "a distinction when it comes to killing an animal for vanity ... due to the frivolous nature of the end product."

Some European countries have banned fur farms due to concerns about conditions, Goodwin said.

Platt rejected the cruelty allegations, citing government oversight, and the characterization of furs as frivolous.

"Fur's been used since the beginning of time," she said. "Clothing is a necessity. After that it's a matter of choice. Fur as a clothing choice makes a lot of sense. It's a good investment ... beautiful and, if taken care of, can last generations." Platt said.

"Every industry out there has a small component of people that protest," she said. "The protesters out there are basically offering a vision that wouldn't work," with a clothing industry limited to "basically petrochemical products."

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