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Rachel D’Oro

(c) ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS

02/14/99

   An Anchorage crowd was huddled in furs and coats Saturday morning when Alex Bury and Kristie Sigmon strode into the 6-degree chill wearing leopard spots and little else.

   ''Compassion is the fashion. Don't wear fur,'' the women chanted as they circled Town Square just before the Fur Rondy Grand Parade started downtown. People gaped. Some whistled.

   The women were covered head to foot with yellow paint and black splotchy dots. They wore bikini bottoms, black ankle boots, and a strategically placed banner that read: ''Only Animals Should Wear Fur.''

   Susan Schafer, waiting for the parade with her son and husband, arched her brows as the nearly naked women passed on Sixth Avenue near F Street.

   ''Wow. I was starting to feel chilly until I saw them,'' Schafer said, hugging her parka. ''Philosophically, I understand where they're coming from. I don't own any furs. But it's too cold to walk around with no clothes on.''

   Bury and Sigmon passed the parade king and queen, who cheerfully waved at them from a horse-drawn carriage in the staging area. Norma Alderfer, wearing a crown and wolf-trimmed mink coat, was amused by the demonstration.

   ''It's their right, but I don't think it's something you can promote here,'' she said. ''We're Alaskans. We've always trapped. It's a livelihood for many. And fur keeps you real warm.

''I was afraid they might have frostbite because they don't have furs,'' she added.

   The 10-minute demonstration was sponsored by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The Virginia-based animal rights organization is known for its ''Rather go naked than wear fur'' campaigns, including a similar protest in Anchorage two winters ago. That time, Bury and four other women stripped in the name of animal justice.

   ''It was a little warmer and nicer than today,'' Bury said afterward as she shivered in a parked van. Next to her was Sigmon, a national campaign coordinator for PETA who flew in from Norfolk, Va., for Saturday's protest. Both wore white robes. In the front seat of the van,  John and Susan Bury said they were proud of their daughter.

   ''She's very committed, and I think it's great,'' Susan Bury said. ''Ready to go another round?'' John Bury asked the protesters, who shook their heads and sipped from steaming cups of coffee.

   ''It was sheer torture out there -- but it's nothing compared to what animals endure before their skins are ripped off their bodies,'' Sigmon said. She brought out a PETA pamphlet stating that pelt farmers put animals through excruciating deaths, including electrocution, gassing and suffocation.

   ''I have a picture at home of a fox in a trap,'' said Bury, a vegetarian chef. ''When I thought of that picture, it was a lot easier to be out there, even though my fingers and toes were numb. I hope from this, people realize the truth about how animals are killed.''

   Parade spectator Petra Durkee, wrapped in a mink and fox coat, said the women picked the wrong place to spread their message.

   ''If they want to protest, do it in California where people wear fur for vanity,'' Durkee said. ''In Alaska, it's practical and functional.''

   Other synthetics are just as warm, said some of the 20 fully clothed animal defenders who showed up along the parade route to show their support for PETA. They also wanted to ask Anchorage not to hold a winter fur festival ''based on a tradition of cruelty'' to animals. They waved signs that said, ''Fur is Dead'' and ''Fur leaves me cold.''

   So why they didn't bare all for their cause?

   ''We're naked underneath our clothing,'' Joshua Love said.

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