Irish hunt saboteurs get support to end FOX hunting.
Contact:
Sean Gifford (Lush press office): +44 (0)207 434 3948; sean.gifford@lush.co.uk
LUSH’S FABULOUS MRS FOX CHALLENGES FOX HUNTING
Lush Cosmetics Launches Campaign Against Fox Hunting; in Support of the Association of Hunt Saboteurs
Ireland—This week Lush Cosmetics is launching an in-store campaign to highlight that hunting with hounds continues throughout Ireland. Although hunting foxes with hounds has been banned in Scotland since 2002 and England and Wales since 2005, this blood sport remains legal in Ireland. During the week of October 12th the windows of Lush’s four Irish shops will be emblazoned with the words ‘THE HUNTS ARE STILL AT IT’. Customers will be encouraged to sign petitions asking for hunting with hounds to be made a criminal act. Lush’s Irish shops are located in Dublin, Belfast and Cork.
For the campaign Lush Cosmetics has joined forces with the Association of Hunt Saboteurs (AOHS). The AOHS, run by unpaid volunteers, bravely go out into the countryside and use peaceful means to protect hunted animals. They use video cameras to document hunts breaking the law and give evidence to police. But most importantly, the hunt sabs take direct action to save animals in danger—they use hunting horns to call the hounds away from a fox, or cover the scent of the fox with a harmless spray of citronella, which will confuse hounds in pursuit. Lush has invented a limited edition bubble bar called Fabulous Mrs Fox (which contains citronella oil) with all of the proceeds (minus VAT) going to the Association of Hunt Saboteurs. The Fabulous Mrs Fox, which is adorned with a red fox paw print and contains English essential oils, will remain on sale until Boxing Day, a traditional day for foxhunting.
Why is a soap shop in a lather over fox hunting? Cruel, antiquated practices like bear baiting, dog fighting and cock fighting have long ago been deemed by society to be unnecessary and unacceptable and were legislated against. Fox Hunting is a blood sport, plain and simple, and has no place in modern society.
Hilary Jones, Lush’s Director of Ethics, says "This is the 21st Century and there are more ways than ever to have fun. Chasing living creatures to the point of exhaustion and then ripping them apart is not just cruel - it is unthinkably bizarre and shows a lack of imagination and basic humanity.”
Bernie Wright from the Association of Hunt Saboteurs says “The majority of the public are unaware of the secret side of foxhunting, the digging out of foxes from their coverts, the cub-hunting where new hounds are trained by blooding them on young cubs and the fact that surplus hounds are killed when they are of no use in a pack. Foxhunting is an outdated barbaric past time which hopefully will follow Stag hunting into the annals of history. Wild animals should be protected from the violations inflicted by those who get their kicks from causing animal suffering'.
Please visit www.Lush.co.uk for more information.