More than a dozen protesters marched and shouted slogans in front of Tarlow Furs Ltd. on North Charles Street yesterday.
The Baltimore demonstration was part of a national "Fur Free Friday" protest, said Logan Cockey, one of the coordinators of Maryland Animal Advocates.
The group, an offspring of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, wants to put furriers out of business and to persuade people not to wear old furs or buy new ones, said Mr. Cockey.
Demonstrators staged a mock fashion show outside the downtown store, strutting up and down the sidewalk like models on a runway. One woman dangled a fox fur piece clamped in a steel trap -- while other demonstrators carried signs.
Emily Sciarillo, 15, swirled and turned in her mutilated fur coat. Parts of the coat had been shaved, coated with red paint and then topped with slogans. Emily had painted "100 lives died for this" on the back of her coat. Her shoulders were decorated with red lumps to simulate animal innards.
Mr. Cockey passed out copies of a leaflet, "The Agony of Fur," that said it takes 65 minks to make a 40-inch length coat. He also showed passers-by how a leg trap springs shut, using a pencil instead of a paw. The pencil split.
"You can see this is a bone snapping device," Mr. Cockey said. He said the dying animal sometimes remains in the trap for hours or even days.
Inside Tarlow's, it was business as usual as shoppers browsed for a variety of fur coats. A couple leaving the shop refused to comment.
Owner David Tarlow had no comment.
Carol A. Wynne, executive director of the Fur Industry Council in New York, said the protesters have a right to their opinions -- but so do those who wear fur coats.
"Fur sales have actually gone up 20 percent over the last two years," she said.
The council says more than 60,000 jobs are provided by the U.S. fur industry, which had sales last year of $1.2 billion.
Ms. Wynne said the fur-bearing animals are treated well and put down in an humane manner. "We treat animals in a responsible way."
On Charles Street, a few people stopped to watch the mock fashion show. One said he supported the protesters' views.
"I think what they are doing is admirable," said Kevin Heinecke of Edgewood. "It is 1994, and I think as a civilization we should be able to replicate what we need to stay warm. We don't need to take another animal's life," he said.