With colder weather comes fur season. It starts appearing on racks in stores and on peoples backs around town. Most people don’t know what cruelty goes into their clothes as even fakes are often real dog and cat fur. With this in mind, and with the annual Fur Free Friday demonstrations coming up fast, we welcome acclaimed activist and director Shannon Keith who will be sharing segments of her new film Skin Trade, which is in production. Shannon is an animal and civil rights attorney, and the director of the award winning film, Behind the Mask. She is a regular speaker at animal rights conferences around the country and will be discussing the fur industry, her film, and leading a discussion about what we can all do to combat this cruel fashion. This discussion will cover audience member questions as well as how to combat industry arguments, outreach and education tips, and online activism options, amongst other topics.

Please come and help make this event a success.

The first event is “Monkey Business: The Truth About Animal Testing and the ONPRC.” If you have ever had trouble discussing the difficult topic of vivisection and animal testing, or need to brush up on your knowledge, this event is for you. Elaine Close (Coatlition to Abolish Animal Testing) and Matt Rossell (In Defense of Animals) will be discussing the bad science, bad treatment, and useless studies that surround the bulk of animal testing, focusing on the ONPRC (Oregon National Primate Research Center.) We will talk about what goes on at the primate lab, what you can do about it, and ways you can more effectively discuss this topic with others.

This event is free and open to the public. It is being sponsored by Vegans for Animal Advocacy as well as Food Fight! and Herbivore.