Paragon Sports to End Fur Sales

Once a Major Canada Goose Seller and PETA Target, Retailer Cites Consumer Demand as Cause for Switch to High-Tech Fur-Free Outerwear

For Immediate Release:
August 10, 2020

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

Following a three-year campaign by grassroots animal activists in New York City—backed by PETA and its members and supporters—Paragon Sports has announced that this winter will be the last season that it sells fur, including Canada Goose’s so-called “reclaimed fur,” stating that many customers prefer innovative fur-free products.

The move follows weekly PETA-supported protests outside Paragon Sports and demonstrations outside the home of Vice President and COO Zachary Blank, among other efforts. After protesters plastered fliers all over Blank’s neighborhood, the company agreed to meet with them, kicking off negotiations that recently reached a successful conclusion.

“Paragon Sports is moving into the future by leaving fur behind,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “As Canada Goose struggles and fails to change its cruel image, PETA looks forward to seeing Paragon’s racks finally free of the brand’s fur-trimmed coats.”

Nathan Semmel, one of the activists who led the effort, says, “In 2020, there is simply no good reason to exploit sentient beings for their fur when warm, beautiful, eco-friendly alternatives exist. When future generations look back at the images of coyotes writhing in agony in steel leg-hold traps or being anally electrocuted on fur factory farms, they will be just as horrified as we are today of the atrocities committed by those who came before us.”

New York City–based fashion designer and industry expert Joshua Katcher adds, “The fashion industry is finally coming to terms with the callous reality of fur production because the evidence and public demand is overwhelming. It is no longer possible for design to be considered good or beautiful when it is made in such a horribly ugly way.”

PETA’s numerous video investigations of the global fur industry have revealed that animals on fur farms spend their entire lives confined to cramped, filthy wire cages. Fur farmers use the cheapest killing methods available, including neck-breaking, suffocation, poisoning, and genital electrocution. Trapped coyotes can succumb to the elements, blood loss, infection, or attacks by predators before trappers return to shoot, bludgeon, or kill them in some other horrific way.

Paragon Sports joins hundreds of top outdoor retailers in going fur-free, including The North Face, Columbia Sportswear, Patagonia, and Burton.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.