Anti-Fur Activist Yvonne Taylor Ready to Go to Jail — Don't Let Us Stop You, Yvonne

Scottish animal rights activist Yvonne Taylor made quite a splash in Paris recently with her efforts to disrupt fashion shows. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals member disrupted a Gaultier fashion show by jumping on the runway holding a banner reading “Fur Kills” while she chanted “Fur is dead” (thankfully the crowd was spared the sight of her naked body, unlike the poor citizens in Beijing who were subjected to that display).

In an interview with Scottish newspaper The Herald, Taylor said she is afraid of being arrested and possibly spending time in prison, but is ready to go to jail if that’s what it takes,

Although I’m petrified, it’s nothing compared to what these animals go through. When a model is on the catwalk wearing fur, all I can see is an animal suffering. If I thought about consequences I’d never do anything. Prison is always a possibility, but I just can’t think about it.

Don’t worry, with a bit of luck Taylor will have plenty of time to think about it at some point.

Not that she’d be missing much. According to The Herald, Taylor is a professional protester who “has turned her back on a nine-to-five job and instead campaigns for animal rights” full time. In addition to stripping and chanting for PETA, she is a coordinator with the Scotland-based Advocates for Animals.

Taylor adds that she plans to do this for the rest of her life,

I will never stop. Even when I’m an old lady I will drop my clothes to keep fur off people’s backs.

Probably beats seeing Bruce Friedrich streaking for some nonsense, but not by much. But the important point here is that she is exactly right — she will have to be taking her clothes off when she’s 80 because the fur industry will still be around and going strong. At least Taylor understands the futility of her little stunts.

Source:

Fur protester ready to go to jail for the cause. Catherine Lyst, The Herald (Scotland), March 12, 2003.

Naked fur protesters freed. The BBC, October 24, 2002.

PETA Activists Confront Gaultier on the Catwalk. Press Release, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, March 3, 2003.

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