Olympic Skater and Anti-Fur Advocates on Thin Ice

Johnny Weir got on the wrong side of animal activists when he hit the ice in a fox fur trimmed costume at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

He didn't make things better by responding, "I totally get the dirtiness of the fur industry and how terrible it is to animals. But it's not something that's the No. 1 priority in my life." He added, "I tend to focus my energy, if there is a cause, on humans."

Since then, he said he's received hate mail and death threats. He's concerned enough about his safety that he scrapped his plans to stay at a hotel and is staying in the Olympic Village where there's more security. 

He also decided to switch to faux fur for the competition. In his statement, Weir said that it was more important for him to focus on his skating than worry about his costume disrupting the games or his shot at a medal. "I hope these activists can understand that my decision to change my costume is in no way a victory for them, but a draw."

I'd call it a loss for both sides.

Johnny, there's no need to intentionally incite animal activists by being so callous about wearing fur. It's especially insulting when Canada's seal fur industry has been such a big issue around this year's Olympics. Anti-fur isn't exactly an extremist campaign. If you really understood how terrible the industry was, you would think twice about wearing fur. You're right that "every skater is wearing skates made out of cow," but every skater isn't making the problem worse by adding fur to their costumes.

You could choose to become part of the solution like snowboarder Hannah Teter, who appeared in Save the Seals ads. At the very least, don't flaunt the fact that you support cruelty, and don't use the tired line that you don't care about animals because you're too busy caring about humans. The causes are not mutually exclusive.

Anti-Fur Activists, don't make human and animal causes mutually exclusive. There's no excuse for death threats. Intimidating people in the name of defending animals is hypocritical. Even more important, it's ineffective. You haven't changed Weir's mind about supporting the fur industry. In fact, you've probably made him more likely to wear fur again in the future, if only to prove that your tactics didn't get to him.

If we're going to get others to see the importance of a humane lifestyle, our educational and advocacy efforts need to reflect humane values.

Photo credit: Monica Friedlander