By Tina Jagros, director, Canadian Outdoor Heritage Alliance

Understanding your opponent is the first step in winning any battle. In the case of animal rights, we cannot lump them together into one group. They represent a whole spectrum of beliefs and agendas. It encompasses the grandmother who worries about unwanted kittens and puppies as well as the vegan who is opposed to the enslavement of animals by humans for any reason. These two extremes reflect a change in how some members of society view man's relationship with animals. What transforms this from just a philosophical debate is the length to which some believers will go to enforce their opinions on others.

These groups range from relatively peaceful groups, limiting their involvement to local Humane Societies or City Councils to the more radical groups who will trespass on private property to release livestock, cut brake lines in cars or blow up feed kitchens. Violent tactics such as these have received a great deal of press, however this media attention has backfired in recent times as the public rejects violence. The greater danger lies not in the demonstrators but in those peaceful groups that work behind the scenes at the Justice Department, at City Hall or in any government office that regulates our involvement with animals.

As Canadians we know about regulations. Most will probably say that we are over regulated! Yet it is a part of the Canadian personality to expect a certain amount of government regulation. We do want to be able to fish, hunt and trap well into the next century. The responsible use and protection of our resources is a fundamental belief for those Canadians who define enjoyment of the environment through active involvement with it.

Increasingly however there are those who say that these activities destroy the future of our fish, bird and animal stocks. They mask their anti-animal use agenda by talking sustainability and cruelty. For many city dwellers this all makes perfect sense. After all how could you protect a species by killing it? How could we expect the fishing, hunting and trapping community to be responsible enough to consider sustainability an important issue? How could we expect men and women who are willing to "kill" an animal to be concerned about humane treatment of the same animals? These perceptions make it very easy for our opponents to score points with the urban public.

The fur industry has lived through a turbulent twenty years. We first came under attack on the seal issue. The fact that the industry itself did not use white coat seal pups was irrelevant. The fact that credible scientists found there was not excess suffering or cruelty involved was ignored. The one picture of the white coat seal has haunted our industry at every turn. But perhaps the most telling fact of all, was how little media coverage was given to the eventual Greenpeace apology to the First Nations people. This acknowledgement that they had made a grievous error was totally ignored by the media and is generally unknown by the public. Worse we were left with a partial ban on sealing that destroyed a way of life for thousands of Canadians, created unemployment, increased suicide levels, depleted fish stocks and delivered a public relations black eye from which the industry has yet to recover.

In retrospect there were many things the fur industry could have done and should have done better. First and foremost we should have been better attuned to the agendas of those who oppose the use of animals for any purpose. Secondly we should have been united in our efforts to deal with this issue both on a public relations basis as well as on a regulatory basis. Our groups were too divided on how to deal with the issue, who would deal with the issue and if in fact it was an issue at all. For many in our industry it was a non-starter, we didn't use the white coats so why should we be involved. Why stand up and draw attention to ourselves; after all this was a provincial or aboriginal issue but not a fur issue?

It has taken almost twenty years for our industry to recognize the tactics of our opponents and to devise strategies with which to deal with them. We have responded in many ways: counter demonstrations to provide the media and consumers with our information, information advertisements, press conferences, billboards, in-school material. We have worked hard to ensure that our industry is recognized for being responsible and well regulated, but perhaps most importantly we have come together: producer groups, manufacturers and retailers to talk to governments with more authority and impact.

Today's animal rights agenda has changed. The target is no longer the consumer. They have lost that war as fur sales continue to increase and designers jump on the bandwagon. In Europe they have largely abandoned this approach. They have aggressively gone after regulations, making it increasingly difficult for producers and industry to cope. In order to fight this kind of protracted war, industry needs a full time commitment of staff and resources to effectively monitor regulations in order to provide a heads up alert, to lobby governments on behalf of the various industry groups and to become a credible partner in the dialogue between media, government and the public.

Fishing is clearly the new target. The most recent poster of a dog with a fish hook in its mouth is the most recent incarnation of the white coat seal picture. There are sure to be many groups that will say this is not our problem. They will offer excuses why no action should be taken. They will point to other groups and say this is their responsibility. The end result however will be the same as for the seal hunt. Too little and too late, unless those who fish, hunt and trap seriously support an organization that represents all user groups. This does not mean that individual organizations cannot or should not continue to exist. This is not an either or situation. In fact the more groups and resources we can bring to bear the better. What we can't afford is the divisiveness and the lack of vision that seems to come with so many organizations trying to find their way through this maze.

There needs to be a response to this poster and it needs to come quickly and definitively. It must be a part of a bigger strategy to communicate with the public and with government. Make no mistake about it, animal rights groups are fundamentally opposed to the use of animals whether it is for medical research, for food, for sport or for clothes. This poster is a wakeup call for all outdoors people.

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