IDA Writing Alert: Fur store eviction: Go now, not later
December 23rd, 2006 5:52 pm by Kelly GarbatoPrevious posts on Schumacher Furs here and here.
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From: In Defense of Animals – takeaction [at] idausa.org
Date: Dec 23, 2006 9:29 AM
Subject: Writing Alert: Fur store eviction: Go now, not later
The Portland Oregonian ran a story about Schumacher Fur in Portland, Oregon receiving an eviction notice from their landlord. Please write a letter to the editor reminding readers that any compassionate person would refuse to cause animals to suffer for a vanity product. Send letters to letters [at] news.oregonian.com.
Read “Fur store eviction: Go now, not later” online.
Fur store eviction: Go now, not later
Downtown – Schumacher Furs & Outerwear is told by its landlord to vacate by 1 p.m. the day after Christmas
Saturday, December 23, 2006
SPENCER HEINZSchumacher Furs & Outerwear, the target of more than a year of anti-fur protests, is facing a landlord’s notice to swiftly vacate its downtown Portland location.
The store’s owner had announced last month that he voluntarily would leave the 811 S.W. Morrison St. location for an undisclosed space in the suburbs by the spring.
Gregg Schumacher, owner of Schumacher Furs & Outerwear, said late Friday afternoon that he had just opened a certified letter from his landlord’s attorney saying the fur store must leave by 1 p.m. Tuesday, the day after Christmas.
“We’re supposed to vacate and quit possession of the premises,” he said, reading from the letter.
A hearing on the eviction case is set for 9 a.m. Thursday in the Multnomah County Courthouse, according to the county eviction office.
The store is in the middle of a 30 percent to 40 percent off “evacuation sale,” Schumacher said, adding that he had no intention of leaving by Tuesday. Instead, he would be busy selling furs.
“I plan to keep running my evacuation sale,” he said. “I have done nothing violating anything in the leasing agreements.”
Earlier this year, Schumacher said that his landlord, developer Tom Moyer’s TMT Development Co., had threatened to evict the business if the store did not remove signs aimed at protesters. On Friday, Schumacher said lawyer-to-lawyer discussions last week had seemed to resolve most, if not all, signage issues.
“We went through a process of approval with TMT last week to approve the signage, which is in our display windows right now, and we have it approved,” he said.
A TMT representative could not be reached for comment Friday. TMT has declined previous requests to discuss whether it was evicting Schumacher’s.
On Wednesday, a lawyer for Tom Moyer Theatres partnership filed a “complaint for forcible entry and detainer” — an eviction notice — in Multnomah County Circuit Court against Gregg Schumacher Furs LLC at the Morrison Street location of Schumacher Furs & Outerwear.
The action marks the latest in a series that started in November 2005 when protesters began picketing the 111-year-old Portland institution every Saturday, claiming fur businesses cause unnecessary cruelty to animals.
Early in April, Schumacher went before the Portland City Council and complained that police let protesters get out of hand. Soon after, he filed a notice of intent to sue the city, contending that police were not properly responding to complaints during weekly protests.
This November, Schumacher said that he felt the city’s core was unsafe and unfriendly, and that he would move his shop to the suburbs in the spring. At the time, he said he was under no landlord pressure to move.
Spencer Heinz: 503-221-8072; spencerheinz [at] news.oregonian.com
You can use the following points to help you in writing your letters, or see www.furkills.org for more:
* Wearing fur sends the message that one doesn?t care about animals or the environment. There is no excuse not to choose synthetic alternatives to fur that are warmer, more durable, less heavy, and humane.
* Each year approximately 10 million animals are trapped in the wild so that they can be skinned for fur coats. This suffering is multiplied when one considers the fact that an average of forty to one hundred animals must be killed to make one fur coat.
* Animals held captive on fur farms spend their short lives crowded in wire cages where they suffer from inadequate water, disease, parasites, and stress. They are killed by anal electrocution, poisoning, or suffocation. Those who don?t die immediately are skinned alive.
* Animals on fur farms are not able to engage in their natural behaviors. They are treated more like machines and commodities than living creatures with emotions. Their agony and certain death occur for the simple purpose of creating a luxury garment that serves no practical purpose ? except to make money.
* It takes sixty female mink to make a coat, thirty-five male mink, and a varying number of foxes
Be sure to include your full name, address, and phone number (for verification purposes–street names and phone numbers will not be published). Letters should be less than 200 words.
Thank you for writing and good luck!
If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for In Defense of Animals Action Center.
In Defense of Animals is an international animal protection organization with more than 85,000 members and supporters dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of animals by protecting their rights and welfare. IDA’s efforts include educational events, cruelty investigations, boycotts, grassroots activism, and hands-on rescue through our sanctuaries in Mississippi and Cameroon, Africa.
In Defense of Animals 3010 Kerner Blvd., San Rafael, California 94901 – P: (415) 388-9641 F: (415) 388-0388
email: ida [at] idausa.org
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