Harvey Nichols seeks Injunction to Halt Anti-Fur Protests

British department store group Harvey Nichols is searching for an injunction from the High Court of England and Wales to restrict anti-fur campaigns occurring at its stores across the UK.

The high street department store group is said to be making a formal application to the High Court of England and Wales in London to stop the recent anti-fur campaigns that have been held at its stores by the Heartless Harvey Nichols (HHN).

The anti-fur organization, which has launched a national petition online against Harvey Nichols to convince them to stop selling fur, has supported walk in protests at three different stores over the past month. HHN argues that their protests have been peaceful and constitutional and that the injunction is “an attack on democratic freedoms.”

Harvey Nichols seeks court order to ban anti-fur protests

If approved, the injunction would ban any anti-fur protesters from coming within 50 meters of rs of any Harvey Nichols store in England and Wales, handing out leaflets and using megaphones or speakers to spread their message. The order could also prohibit any one who opposes the sale of fur from entering the department group stores.

“The order being sought by Harvey Nichols is a direct attack on those who oppose the sale of fur, which includes 95 percent of the public,” commented Luke Steele, a spokesperson for Heartless Harvey Nichols. “If granted, this injunction could result in those people being banned from entering high streets across the country and being prosecuted for entering their stores.”

“Harvey Nichols is currently facing increased pressure from the public to halt its sale of fur. Animals are gassed and electrocuted to produce the pelts on sale... HHN is a coalition of campaigners across the United Kingdom seeking an end to the sale of fur by Harvey Nichols,” he added.

HHN has reached out to Harvey Nichols in the past to try to discuss their reinstatement of fur sale in 2013, after the department group previously held a decade long no fur policy. In an email sent to HHN earlier this week, the department store group stresses that its fur is sourced “humanely and ethically and in line with the International Fur Trade Association’s Origin Assured programme and with adherence to international regulations.”

However HHN points out that there is no such thing as “humanely and ethically” sourced fur. “The standard practice for killing mink is to kill them by carbon monoxide poisoning in gas chambers. Foxes are killed through electrocution which causes heart attacks. Chinchillas are suffocated with chloroform and then strung up. Rabbits are knocked out before having their throats cut,” said the organization.

HHN added that they plan on fighting the order with their own lawyers. “We will not stop being a voice for animals on fur farms.” The organization is not the only voice speaking for animals on fur farms. Animal right's group Peta have also targeted Harvey Nichols for its sale of fur in the past, sending its Chief Executive Officer Stacey Cartwright requesting that she reinstates the department store's “long-standing and much-respected no-fur policy.”

“If Harvey Nichols is upset because the public is disgusted by the store's sale of the pelts of animals who have been trapped, drowned, gassed or electrocuted, it doesn't need to get an injunction – it needs to reinstate its fur-free policy,” said Mimi Bekhechi, Director at Peta UK.