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Group of the Month

Caring Activists Against Fur (CAAF) is a New York/New Jersey-based group of activists who are dedicated to taking the anti-fur message to the street. It was founded in February 2004 by teacher-trainer Julie O’Connor and nurse Debbie Kowalski. The two met at protests. “We decided to revive the anti-fur movement in the area rather than sitting back and complaining to each other about how sad it was that so many young women were buying and wearing fur,” Debbie says. Their membership consists of approximately 400 people.

Every year on Valentine’s Day weekend and Fur-Free Friday (the Friday after Thanksgiving, the biggest shopping day of the year), CAAF members loudly protest local fur stores and fur wearers. Debbie says: “Our philosophy of activism is to be out on the street and take the anti-fur message to the public as much as possible.” This year, they joined Friends of Animals at the Consulate General of Canada to protest the killing of more than 300,000 baby seals in Canada’s annual seal hunt. Their outreach also includes tabling, leafleting, and organizing one anti-fur protest in New York City or New Jersey every three weeks. CAAF makes its own posters and gets literature from other animal rights organizations in New York City, including PETA.

Julie’s activism began when she was 5 and liberated a fish at a town picnic. She continued by passing around petitions against the face branding of cattle when she was 11, and she’s still going strong today: “CAAF will continue to do our annual Valentine’s Day, Fur-Free Friday, and seal hunt protests and is always looking for volunteers in the tri-state area.”

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