Kirsty Gallacher backs Mirror campaign for ban on 'cruel and ugly' fur sales in UK

Fur farming has been banned successful the UK since 2003, nevertheless fur from countries including China is inactive imported into the country, with estimates suggesting 7million animals are killed each twelvemonth for their fur

TV presenter Kirsty Gallacher is the latest dependable to talk retired successful enactment of the Daily Mirror's crusade to prohibition fur income successful the UK.

The 48-year-old who lives with her 2 sons, 2 dogs and a tortoise has urged the Government to bring successful the prohibition connected fur imports. She said: "The fur commercialized is simply a cruel and disfigured business, subjecting animals to symptom and horrendous suffering for frivolous manner items."

"The UK was close to prohibition fur farming but arsenic agelong arsenic we support selling fur from animals overseas, we are complicit successful their pain. Wouldn't it beryllium large for Britain to beryllium starring the mode successful carnal welfare? What are they waiting for?”

She joins stars and conservationists including Ricky Gervais, Dame Judy Dench and Chris Packham successful backing our telephone with the Humane Society International/UK for a Fur Free Britain. Kirsty besides slammed the latest inclination which has seen a instrumentality to vintage existent fur being worn peculiarly by Gen Zs, known arsenic the mob woman look, calling it retired of interaction and “awful”.

The erstwhile Sky Sports quality presenter is girl of Scottish nonrecreational golfer Bernard Gallacher, 75. She said her passionateness for carnal payment started astatine a young property erstwhile she started to question trips to Edinburgh zoo with her parents aft “seeing the sadness” successful the animals eyes. She has besides boycotted marine parks for her children specified arsenic Seaworld calling them “disgusting” for locking up dolphins and whales successful barren tanks. Kirsty says she besides worries astir clime alteration volition interaction aboriginal generations.

While she has turned to devoting a batch of clip to campaigning astir carnal payment issues successful Parliament, Kirsty said she draws the enactment astatine getting progressive with protests organised by Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil.

Kirsty, who present hosts a Saturday day slot connected Smooth Radio, said: “I don’t hold with glueing yourself to the roadworthy to origin loads of disruption. Ambulances got stuck and carers for the elderly. That benignant of enactment is going to origin deaths. Campaigning is what we request to beryllium doing, to halt the fur trade, puppy farming oregon the import of foie gras. When I spot it connected a paper I privation to scribble it out. If anyone was to bid it successful beforehand of me, I would get up from the table.”

Dogs person been a peculiarly large portion of her beingness since was a child. She said: "I person been fortunate to person had dogs each my life. Our archetypal two, erstwhile we moved from Edinburgh to Wentworth, were a elephantine schnauzer called Domino. The different was a aureate retriever called Thatcher - we didn’t sanction her I hasten to add, she came to america called that already.”

She has 2 dogs astatine the moment, Frank the cocker spaniel, who was a stray recovered wandering London during Storm Franklin and a French bulldog called Bertie. Her different rescue, British bulldog Betsy sadly passed distant earlier Christmas.

Kirsty said: “Betsy was wholly breached erstwhile we got her successful 2015. She was astir 4 years aged and had been perpetually utilized for breeding. She was truthful frightened of noises, similar the rustling of a integrative bag. She had evidently been done a batch of trauma and had been beaten. It was a dilatory process nursing her backmost to beingness but she began to spot america Betsy was the astir beauteous creature. We called her “Milady” arsenic she was the matriarch, the main woman of the house, the boss. We went connected a travel unneurotic arsenic we were some rather breached astatine the clip but we helped to heal each other. Animals are conscionable unthinkable companions.”

Kirsty’s different favored is simply a tortoise called Theo who she inherited from her champion friend’s daughter, BBC sports presenter Gabby Logan, to whom she is godmother to. She added: “I conscionable emotion being surrounded by animals and my kids support asking for more. We truly volition instrumentality successful anything. They each bring specified joyousness to america and are each firmly portion of the family.”

Fur farming has been banned connected ethical grounds successful the UK since 2003, nevertheless fur from countries including China is inactive imported into the country. In May 2021 the UK Government launched a Call for Evidence connected the UK fur trade, but astir 3 years on, officials are inactive withholding the results.

HSI estimates that the magnitude of fur imported into the UK from implicit the past 5 years (2019-2023) equates to astir 7 cardinal animals brutally killed for fur fashion, including the equivalent of astir 1 cardinal animals’ worthy of fur imported straight from China.

There are besides concerns connected a nationalist wellness hazard aft millions of animals connected fur farms were forced to beryllium culled aft a mutated mentation of covid-19 was detected successful 12 workers successful Denmark successful 2020. Experts pass that farms oregon bedewed markets afloat of sick, distressed and injured animals are microorganism reservoirs.

Claire Bass, elder campaigns and nationalist affairs manager astatine Humane Society International/UK, said: “Fur is simply a shameful commercialized that belongs successful the dustbin of history, and Kirsty's close that it is simply a full treble modular to prohibition fur farming present but past support importing the aforesaid cruelty from overseas.

“Millions of radical backmost an import ban, which would beryllium a large stroke to the planetary trade, but disappointingly the Government keeps stalling adjacent successful spite of the tremendous quality wellness risks posed by fur farms, which could precise good beryllium the root of the adjacent pandemic.

“We're truthful grateful to Kirsty for speaking retired astir this outdated, unnecessary and unsafe commercialized and promote everyone to articulation her successful taking enactment for animals by signing the petition for a #FurFreeBritain.”

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