Canadian wins international Design Against Fur poster contest.

9 November 2004

Michael Blain, a student from Conestoga College in Kitchener, Ontario has beat out 1700 students from 250 schools in more than 20 countries worldwide to win the grand prize for the international Design Against Fur poster competition. Yvette Bozsik, a renowned Hungarian dance artist and choreographer, personally presented Michael Blain with a check for 5,000 EURO at a celebration dinner in Budapest. Part of his prize was an all expenses paid trip to Budapest. As first prize winner for Canada he had earlier received $1,000 CAD.

The Design Against Fur poster competition is an international contest organised by the Fur Free Alliance (FFA), a consortium of over 35 animal protection organizations representing millions of members world-wide. The Canadian leg of the competition is run by FFA affiliate, Global Action Network, a multi-issue animal protection organisation based in Montreal.

"We are thrilled to see a Canadian student win the grand prize for the 2004 international Design Against Fur competition. This contest is an important way for students in the creative arts to provide a meaningful contribution to ending the cruel fur trade, an industry that slaughters over 40 million animals worldwide every year, 2 million of them in Canada." Stated Andrew Plumbly, Director of Global Action Network.

Michael Blain’s winning poster is of a label on a fur garment with the wording: “100% trapped, tortured and slaughtered Fox Trim. Will you recognize the truth?” Michael Blain states: "It is such an honour to win the grand prize for the 2004 international Design Against Fur contest. Working on this project has taught me that animals are just as capable of suffering as people, and deserve to live free of exploitation at the hands of the fur industry."

This year’s DAF competition focused on the issue of fur trim. Students were asked to design a poster that would remind potential consumers that fur trim is cruel and when people buy or sell it they are contributing to the pain and suffering of animals.

According to Andrew Plumbly, “many people are misled into thinking fur-trim is made from the “leftovers” of full-length fur coats. To the contrary, more animals are used each year for fur trim than for fur coats and 90% of factory farmed foxes are killed for fur trim alone. Young people set fashion trends and 50% of fur and fur trim is currently purchased by consumers younger than 40 years of age, it is critically important that the younger generation be knowledgeable about the fur trade and use their knowledge to protect animals.”

Students can enrol in the 3rd annual Design Against Fur poster competition by logging on to www.gan.ca.

Michael Blain’s winning poster is available at:
www.infurmation.com

Contacts: Michael Blain and Yvette Bozsik can be contacted via Nicki Brooks Cell #1: 011 44-7850 768337, Cell #2: 011 44-7967 096477

Andrew Plumbly Tel (514) 939-5525, Cell (514) 582-4670