How rude! As you know, Bruce Friedrich went to Burberry’s AGM for shareholders this morning, only to be denied entry for no reason whatsoever. In PETA’s view they’ve broken the rules governing publicly traded companies and we’re now seeking legal advice on the matter. It’s quite obvious that Burberry didn’t want anyone associated with PETA present, as the horrific truth would come spilling out in front of their important guests. That’s so weak and simply highlights the fact that they have no valid excuse for using fur in their designs.

It went down like this:

Bruce registered in time for the meeting and confirmed his registration with Burberry’s proxy company as earlier directed. He provided picture identification and a copy of his proxy voucher and attendance card, but company officials refused to allow him entry. Friedrich confirmed again over the phone after the meeting that the proxy had arrived before the company’s deadline.

Burberry is a publicly traded company and if they have violated the rules that govern such companies, there are bound to be consequences. Seeing as though Bruce couldn’t read out a shareholder statement as planned, we sent it directly to Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts, Chairman John Peace, and Chief Designer Christopher Bailey.

Here’s what Burberry don’t want their shareholders to see.

At this very moment somewhere in London, Bruce Friedrich (on behalf of PETA and PETA US) is at Burberry’s AGM.

You may remember what happened last time he met Burberry. It went a little something like this:

Bruce: I hope you will meet with us; I think if you saw these fur farms, if you really understood the horrible abuse of animals involved in the fur industry, you’d agree to stop designing with this cruel material.

Fashion bigwig: What gives you the right to come in here and hijack this event and take over everything and disrupt it and ruin this event? This is not the place for this discussion.

There was a whole lot more, but you can read it here.

Yesterday, activists sent emails to Burberry HQ, urging them to discuss the use of fur in the annual meeting today, and to consider dropping animal skins from their collections for good. If this line of conversation does arise, it’ll be pretty interesting to see how it goes. I wait with baited bated breath and will let you know if anything exciting happens!

It has been a hectic few weeks in the office pouring through sheets and sheets of Burberry Shareholder information. (Don’t worry, it’s all publicly available, so no need to “nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more”) The mission, as we chose to accept it was thus: To get names and addresses of the 2,000 shareholders and send them a letter and a video, the video is below, and - I suspect - Burberry REALLY doesn’t want people, let alone their shareholders to view it.

The video shows a fur farm in Finland, where row upon row of cages upon cages contain countless beautiful animals that will be turned into the foulest looking coats, hats and other miscellaneous horrid fur trimmed items. Burberry claims it sources its furs from Finnish fur farms where there is supposed to be the “highest standards of ethical animal treatment”, I ask that you take a look for yourself and see the video Burberry doesn’t want you to see – ethical my arse!

PETA also explains that fur farms are prohibited in the UK and that 93 per cent of the British public oppose buying or wearing fur. PETA’s repeated offers to meet with Burberry executives to discuss how easy it would be for the company to switch to luxurious faux fur have been met with silence or worse, public promises which are never kept.

Burberry shareholders, many of whom are like the majority of the British public, will be opposed to the use of real fur. Therefore, every Burberry shareholder has a right to be informed that a company they have shares in is contributing to the horrific treatment of animals, what Burberry shareholders choose to do with that info is up to them. At PETA, we hope they will tell Burberry management where to put their shares.

Your Burberry Fightin’ Neighbourhood Matt

p.s. (I love p.s’s don’t you!) On Sunday, Alicia Silverstone will be on Graham Norton’s show, you should watch it, it’s all about her vegan dogs and her work with PETA)

When companies that deal in dead animal skins don’t listen to what we have to say, we need to think of new ways to approach them. Executives and bigwigs at Burberry have been shunning our anti-fur message for years, so it was time to get a little up close and personal.

Tuesday night, PETA US VP Bruce Friedrich (who’s in the UK for a short while) confronted Burberry designer Christopher Bailey at a London College of Fashion discussion on menswear. Also at the event – and at the receiving end of Bruce and Christopher’s rather heated discussion – were fashion journalists Colin McDowell and Jeremy Langmead, and more than 200 students. Some members of the audience even blogged about the exchange of words when they got home.

It went a little something like this:

“Event started at 6 p.m. It was “a discussion” about men’s fashion moderated by Colin McDowell of the Sunday Times. After about 30 minutes of talk about trends, I raised my hand:

· Mr. McDowell said, “Oh good, a question! Yes. Oh and you’re prepared, you have notes! Please wait for the microphone so that everyone can hear you”

· Me: Do you mind if I take the discussion in a slightly different direction?

· McDowell: No no, please do!

· Me (reviewing my notes, which is how I know exactly what I said—I had the microphone and spoke very slowly): I have a question for Mr. Bailey about morality in fashion. [Bailey starts to look nervous]. Specifically, fur farming is so cruel to animals that it is illegal in the UK and many other countries, yet you continue to put it into Burberry’s collections. Animals are anally and vaginally electrocuted and skinned alive [gasps], and you seem not to care at all. Is there any abuse of animals so hideous that you would object?

· Bailey: I would be happy to have that discussion with you, but not here.

· McDowell (blustering, livid, bursts out): Now I have a question for you—What gives you the right to come in here, what relevance does that question have to the issue of men’s fashion. Take his microphone away!

· Me: Well you asked me a question, so please do me the courtesy of hearing my answer. [he looked like “oh shit, well that was stupid of me”] What Christopher Bailey pays people do to do to animals on some of the worst fur farms you can imagine, would put him in jail for cruelty to animals if he were paying people to do it to dogs or cats. The fur industry is a violent bloody industry that skins animals alive and crams them into crates where they go insane, and he supports it. Every time and everyplace is appropriate for this discussion.

· McDowell: Well he says he’ll talk w/you about it later. This is not the time.

· Me: He told us that before and then he didn’t return our calls or reply to our letters.

· McDowell: You have made your point. You’ve done what you came here to do. You are welcome to stay or go, but we will not be discussion this issue at this forum. [thunderous applause, though til this point, you could hear a pin drop].

· About 10 minutes later I walked up and slipped Bailey one of our Burberry leaflets and a note that read, “Please make good on your promise this time. You told us you’d meet with us before; this time please call” and gave him my contact info. McDowell looked very concerned as I walked up.

· When they finished up, I was able to go up and have a very heated exchange with him, our faces about 5 inches apart, in front of the line of people who had come for his autograph.

· Me: I hope you will meet with us; I think if you saw these fur farms, if you really understood the horrible abuse of animals involved in the fur industry, you’d agree to stop designing with this cruel material.

· Bailey (moving in and putting his face about 5 inches from mine - very angry and intense): What gives you the right to come in here and hijack this event and take over everything and disrupt it and ruin this event? This is not the place for this discussion.

· Me: You told us you’d meet with us and then you backed out. I hope you will call or email me to set up a meeting; you are supporting horrible cruelty.

· Bailey: I have to talk with other people. You have no style [yes, he actually said “you have no style”; maybe he meant “class”?]

It was pretty bizarre - everyone on line for an autograph from Bailey took a Burberry leaflet from me (including Bailey and his handler and Jeremy Langmead, the editor of Esquire, who was sharing the stage with him).”

Image: Telegraph / CC

Wow, this is seriously the best online game I’ve played at work for ages – the irony here being that I don’t have to hide it from my boss though! Ever wanted to take revenge on Burberry for their sale of fur, but don’t want to get on the wrong side of the law? Here’s your chance to stick it to ‘em, in the form of a fox, racoon or rabbit; the very lovable animals that get slaughtered for their skins. I’ve been trying to work my way through the levels, so far I’ve wielded a can of spray paint, a sign on a catwalk and escaped from Burberry’s CEO – great fun. Let me know how you get on, post your scores here and let the battle commence!

Here’s a report from Rob, our Burberry campaigner who is working hard to rid the chavy company of fur.

“There were two protests in Paris on Saturday 15th March. First one was at the Burberry store in Boulevard Malesherbes, which is also the Burberry France HQ. Two grim reapers and a dozen people took part, then a second demo took place at Rue de Rennes later on in the day.

On the same day in Berlin, the group “Berlin-Vegan“ and PETA Germany held a two-hour demonstration in front of the Burberry shop at Kurfürstendamm. An activist was dressed as the Grim Reaper and a bloody fur coat was also displayed to represent the animals that are brutalised on fur farms.

In Manchester on Sunday 16 March, 13 people turn out for a demo which was a great success. Also in the UK that day, London saw 19 people brave the wind and the rain to hold two demos outside Burberry stores at the same time, one in Regent Street and the other in New Bond Street. The driving rain and the wind failed to dampen people’s spirits and the London streets were filled with chants demanding that Burberry make the ethical decision and go fur free.

I’m busy planning more Burberry store demos and these demos will begin to spread across Europe. Burberry can rest assured that there isn’t a single country where they can hide, and no matter where they have retail outlets, PETA and its supporters will be there to hold them to account.”

Well, there you go. Best you listened up eh, Burberry?

Today, a letter from the former MP Tony Benn was hand delivered by a PETA campaigner to Burberry, asking them to have a rethink on their outdated fur policy. The letter is addressed to the CEO and urges Burberry to end the use of fur in its designs. Benn, a staunch advocate of animal rights, doesn’t meddle with his words and says, “How desperately sad then that Burberry has taken this huge moral step backwards by choosing to adorn its garments with a product of such misery and suffering, a product that is unacceptable by any British standard.”

PETA continues to campaign against the fashion company until it drops real fur from its collections. When questioned on their use of fur and the letter, a spokesman unsurprisingly had very little to say.

Click to view the letter in full.

Over 20 activists dressed up as cavemen and cavewomen told Burberry exactly what they think about the company’s continued use of fur – “Only Cavepeople Wear Fur.”

Wielding clubs, bones, fake teeth and draped in animal skins donated by former fur-wearers, the PETA Europe supporters looked just the part in a demonstration outside Burberry’s Vanity Fair Exhibition for London Fashion Week today. They then moved on to Burberry’s Bond Street store and caused much chaos by clambering over the store windows, grunting and… well, acting like cavepeople really.

Thank you so much to everyone that took part. You looked amazing and now everyone knows about Burberry’s prehistoric fashion sense. Fur belongs on the backs of its rightful owners – the animals, not people.

See what British film legend Julie Christie is doing in this campaign.