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Cat & Dog Fur Ban

30th November 2006

Heather Mills Presents Petition to Local Euro MEP

240,584 people can't be wrong on Cat & Dog Fur

On November 30 2006 MEP Struan Stevenson invited Heather Mills to Brussels to hand over her petition which at this point had been signed by 240,584 people from all over the European Union. The petition was handed to Arlene McCarthy MEP, Chairman of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee. The timing was sweet. The petition was designed to heap maximum pressure on the Committee to implement the EU ban quickly & to put an end to so much suffering as swiftly as possible. The petition gathered online from Heather’s website demanded an immediate halt to this vile trade.

Heather’s involvement had guaranteed an international dimension and massive media coverage helped to raise public awareness across the EU resulting in this huge swell of people making their voices heard.

Handing over the petition in Brussels, Mr Stevenson said: - "With all the backing from the public, the Council of Ministers and the European Commission now in place, it is now up to the European Parliament to deal with this issue as speedily as possible to ensure that we can get this legislation on the statue books by next year. The citizens of Europe have made it abundantly clear they will not tolerate such cruelty."

Arlene McCarthy stated: -

I welcome the fact that the Commission has published the proposal to ban cat and dog fur in the EU. Following over 200,000 letters to the European Commission and the petition signed by almost 250,000 people we are seeing how people power can win and change the law. As Chairman of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee I can announce that we have moved quickly and appointed a draftsperson to make this proposal law as soon as possible
I was delighted last week when the European Commission published its proposal to ban cat and dog fur in the EU. It is the culmination of a long and hard fought campaign by animal rights groups, parliamentarians, rock stars, film stars and celebrities alike.

Arlene added: “Heather has personally campaigned on this issue and through her website has collected nearly a ¼ of a million signatories for the petition. “I believe that without the high level of campaigning, by people like Heather and many others, the Commission would not have published their draft proposal for a ban on the sale of cat and dog fur last week. This petition is a true example of how “people power” can win through and change the law.”

“My committee in the European Parliament, the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, will now look at the draft proposal and guide it through the European Parliament. I hope that with agreement from all the Member States this proposal can be adopted at 1st reading.”

Heather added:

The strength of support we have had over the last year has been phenomenal. People have been visibly moved after hearing about the cruel treatment of these poor animals. My website has been inundated on a daily basis by hundreds of people who strongly object to the banal killing of an estimated 2 million dogs and cats each year in China, to supply the European fashion market. Their collective support for an EU-wide ban on cat and dog fur will hopefully help to speed the passage of this vital legislation through the European Parliament.