Schumacher Fur and Outerwear has occupied the same location in downtown Portland, Ore. for over a century, but that is all about to change. In December 2006, the Schumachers declared their intention to leave due to ongoing anti-fur protests outside of their store and move outside of city limits to the suburban Bridgeport Village Shopping Center. Yet, as it turns out, the mall doesn't want to host a business based on the torture and killing of animals, so the Schumachers are closing down shop for good.

The shuttering of Schumacher Furs is a sign of the times indicating that people are becoming more aware—and less tolerant—of the fur trade's inherent cruelty. If the Schumachers have been shut out by area property owners, it has more to do with changing attitudes about violence towards animals than any orchestrated campaign. As Fred Bruning, president of CenterCal (which owns the upscale shopping center Bridgeport Village), told Willamette Week, "That's not a tenant we want to have on our property because I'd be one of the protesters, probably."

Gregg and Linda Schumacher repeatedly portrayed themselves as victims of the protesters who held weekly demonstrations outside their store, who they repeatedly referred to as "eco-terrorists" in statements to the media. Yet the Schumachers' characterization of animal advocates is as outrageous as it is inaccurate. The protests have attracted a wide range of animal advocates—including seniors, doctors, lawyers, teachers and families with children -- and have, by and large, been peaceful and law abiding. Compassionate individuals have come back week after week because they know how brutally animals are treated in the fur industry.

Considering this, the Schumachers' claims of personal victimization are only an attempt to draw attention away from the fact that the animals are the real victims here. Every year, over 40 million minks, foxes, rabbits and other species are killed for fur clothes and fashion accessories. They spend their entire lives in tiny barren cages and are killed by crude gassing, neck breaking, poisoning and anal electrocution, and are sometimes even skinned alive. Others are trapped in the wild, and can linger for days or weeks in the frigid winter before a trapper comes to club them to death.

As the protester's unofficial spokesperson, Matt Rossell, the Outreach Coordinator for Northwest IDA, proposed a solution months ago that could have ended the demonstrations: labeling all fur garments sold in the store with an accurate description of the inhumane treatment of fur-bearing animals to educate consumers about the conditions animals endure on fur farms. However, the Schumachers rejected the proposal and dropped out of city-sponsored mediation, and continued to falsely accuse activists of breaking the law and be physically and verbally aggressive towards them. Perhaps more than anything else, the Schumacher's provocative behavior was the undoing of their cruel business.

The permanent closure of Schumacher Fur and Outerwear marks a great day for the animals. IDA will use the momentum from this victory to either work for a ban on fur sales in Portland or to push for labeling of fur garments sold within city limits to warn customers of the inherent cruelty of the industry. For more information about fur or the Schumacher protests, visit www.furkills.org.