About 20 Syracuse community members and students protested in front of J. Michael Shoes on Marshall Street Saturday afternoon over the store’s selling of Canada Goose jackets, which the protesters claimed are made by harming animals.

The protest started at noon and ended at about 2 p.m.

Many held signs with photos of animals on them that said “trapped and terrified” or “your fur had a face.” Most signs had the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals logo on it, but the protest was not organized by PETA. Rather, a local grassroots group, Syracuse Animal Rights Organization (SARO), organized and led the protest to support PETA’s campaign against Canada Goose.

The protest had been in the works for a few weeks after repeated talks with J. Michael Shoes stalled, said Amber Canavan, a 2015 alumna of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry who was at the protest.

Camilla Visconti, a sales associate at J. Michael Shoes, said there was some dialogue between SARO and the store. But Jim Hicks, a store manager, said SARO had mostly just been “active on our Facebook page.”

Canavan said J. Michael Shoes was repeating the same marketing lines as Canada Goose and wasn’t interested in changing anything, which is why she and the others decided to protest outside of the store.

“We want Canada Goose to adopt humane standards,” said Canavan. “These animals are trapped for up to several days and are bludgeoned or shot to death. There’s cruelty in every stitch of Canada Goose jackets.”

Hicks said the protesters’ claims are exaggerated.

“Canada Goose is a very reputable company,” he said. “Real fur is the only thing that will work against the elements of the snow. There’s no synthetic that can work as well as real fur.

Rachel Sandler | Asst. news editor

“Why are they protesting us and not Canada Goose headquarters in Canada?”

Hicks added that regardless of the actions of the protesters, J. Michael Shoes will continue to sell Canada Goose jackets.

Peter Riemers, a J. Michael Shoes employee and sophomore communications and rhetorical studies major at Syracuse University, said it’s unfair for the protesters to attack a small business that carries Canada Goose jackets, rather than a Canada Goose store.

“To stand outside our store on a weekend is a little extra,” he said. “It’s a little excessive.”

A few times, groups of women wearing Canada Goose jackets walked by as protesters were chanting, “Canada Goose has blood on its hands.” One group laughed together as a woman wearing a Canada Goose jacket said, “This is so awkward” and walked into Starbucks.

Jackie Smith, a freshman psychology major at SU, stood outside Starbucks talking to a group of friends. She was wearing a Canada Goose jacket.

“I’m just trying to avoid them. Are they going to harass me? Are they going to throw tomatoes at me? It’s just a hood,” she said. “I’m not a crazy fur wearer.”

Published on March 5, 2016 at 3:18 pm

Contact Rachel: rsandler@syr.edu