Nicole Navarro is describing a recent rambunctious moment between two of her rescue foxes, Coral and Reef. Upon being offered a gifted box of treats, the latter pushed the former out of the way and sprinted off with the box, screaming with glee while spilling the treats. \u201cHe lost his mind over the box. Everything new has to be his,\u201d Navarro says, laughing. \u201c[Foxes] are curious. They\u2019re so smart. I have lots of toys, dog puzzles for them. I have snuffle mats [that encourage foraging] because they get bored very quickly.\u201d On fur farms, the stress and boredom of confinement typically results in self-destructive behaviors. That\u2019s why, Navarro explains, foxes saved from farms can sometimes have no teeth. \u201cThey\u2019ve ground them down trying to chew their way out of the wire.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Coral and Jasper, along with Reef, Louie, Libby and Penny, are the residents of Pawsitive Beginnings<\/a>, the fox rescue that Navarro started two years ago in Key Largo, Florida. They all come from generations of captive-bred foxes, born into the fur trade. It\u2019s a trade<\/a> that in 2016 was seeing a record number of sales. But much has changed since then.<\/span><\/p>\n Once a hallmark of opulence, fur is being cast out of luxury fashion. Today, all but seven of the twenty five biggest houses have bans on wild animal fur. Armani and HUGO BOSS led the way in 2016. Gucci went fur-free the following year (declaring fur \u201cpass\u00e9\u201d) as did the world\u2019s biggest luxury online retailer Net-a-Porter. In the years that followed, one by one, storied brands and retailers would cut ties with the fur industry. In 2018, Burberry and Versace dropped fur. Givenchy debuted its switch to faux with its Fall 2018 collection, and Prada has not used animals\u2019 fur since 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n By early 2021, department store Bloomingdales (once home to a fur salon) was faux. Nordstrom is in the final stages of phasing out real fur. Luxury retailers Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman pledged to end fur sales by early 2023. French conglomerate Kering, home to labels like Saint Lauren and Balenciaga, announced that by Fall 2022 its entire fleet would be fur-free. And in January, within two weeks of each other, Moncler and Dolce & Gabbana finally announced they were leaving fur behind. Media is jumping on board too \u2014 as of February, Elle<\/em> no longer features fur.<\/span><\/p>\n These victories and the groundswell of public support for the anti-fur movement haven\u2019t come easy. It has taken many years of concerted pressure from grassroots activists and animal protection organizations to get closer to the goal of abolishing the fur trade and ending animal suffering.<\/span><\/p>\n But who are the fur-bearing animals at the center of the movement, and how much do we know about them?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Globally, foxes are the second most farmed animal after mink, with approximately 4 million killed each year. Yet, there is the illusion that fox farming doesn\u2019t exist in the U.S., partly because the USDA doesn\u2019t publish statistics on fox farms. According to animal rights site finalnail.com<\/a>, however, there are around 50 fox fur farms in the U.S. \u201cA lot of these places fly under the radar,\u201d says Navarro. Located in rural isolated areas primarily in the Midwest, they operate in obscurity. This leads to an inadequate understanding of captive-bred foxes, even among activists.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c[Liberation] can be a sensitive topic, especially in the animal rights community,\u201d Navarro says. Over the years, a typical action<\/a> meant activists releasing foxes into nearby forests. But release, in reality, very rarely leads to survival. Farmed foxes lack hunting skills, having relied on being fed by humans. They make easy prey, because of their insufficient camouflage. \u201cFour out of the six of my foxes aren\u2019t even natural colors. Their colors don\u2019t occur in the wild,\u201d Navarro explains. While they yearn for freedom, captive foxes are maladapted to fend for themselves. In this short video<\/a> of a fur farm in Finland<\/a>, the world\u2019s biggest producer of fox pelts, a worker mocks a fox that escaped from their cage but didn\u2019t flee the property.<\/span><\/p>\n With their chances of making it in the wild next to zero, ensuring freedom for farmed foxes is a complex task that requires preparation and diplomacy (the foxes at Pawsitive Beginnings were given sanctuary by Navarro in close collaboration with intermediary rescuer Mikayla Raines). If protocol isn\u2019t followed and a USDA license is not obtained, a fox faces seizure by authorities and euthanization.<\/span><\/p>\n Had they not been rescued, Navarro\u2019s six foxes would have been killed for being \u2018undesirable.\u2019 Jasper\u2019s \u201cdefect\u201d was his inability to continue breeding. At 6, he is the oldest fox at the sanctuary and had spent the longest on a fur farm. He has severe arthritis from his four years of standing on wire. Because fur-bearing animals like foxes are excluded from the Animal Welfare Act, the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, and the Dog and Cat Fur Protection Act, they survive on the absolute bare minimum long enough for pelting season each December. A typical wire cage is about 5 sq feet.<\/span><\/p>\n The environment, too, pays a price. While the fur industry\u2019s last line of defense has long been that \u201creal fur\u201d is more sustainable than faux, raising animals for slaughter requires intensive use of water, land, energy and feed \u2014 as with all forms of animal agriculture. According to a study<\/a> conducted by European research firm <\/span>CE Deft, \u201cThe climate change impact of 1 kg fur is at least 5 times higher than the highest scoring textile (wool) \u2013 due to the production of animal feed and manure emissions.\u201d The effect of fur\u2019s lifespan on the environment, from tanning to lengthy cold storage, is three to 10 times higher than that of fake fur, the report concluded. And despite misleading claims that \u201cfur is biodegradable,\u201d a report<\/a> commissioned by the fur industry itself found that as little as\u00a06.6 % of a fur garment is biodegradable. And this lowest percentage is attributed to died fox fur.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n All of the foxes came to Navarro in bad shape with \u201cawful bloodwork.\u201d Jasper has broken teeth from chewing on wire, as well as neurological issues. \u201cSometimes, his brain and his mouth don\u2019t communicate. So if he has trouble eating, I\u2019ll have to hand feed him,\u201d Navarro explains of her \u201cspecial needs boy.\u201d But he has improved a great deal since arriving at Pawsitive Beginnings in 2020. \u201cHe gets all the care I can give here. We have a vet that comes once a month to give him laser acupuncture and massages.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Like Jasper, Penny became useless once she stopped breeding. And Libby was set to die because she was born without a tail \u2014 congenital deformities are common in captive-bred animals. Louie had imperfect fur and disfigured ears. He suffered from untreated hematoma on the farm. \u201cHis ears exploded with infection,\u201d explains Navarro. \u201cObviously, [there is no] vet care on a fur farm. [So] once they healed on their own, the cartilage [became] deformed.\u201d Because he\u2019s prone to ear infections due to lack of airflow, he now receives regular deep ear cleaning under sedation as part of his treatment.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey like routine. They\u2019re very, very sensitive creatures.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The youngest, Reef and Coral, were saved last spring because their mothers rejected them. Reef was pulled off the fur farm at just 10 days old. His mother had started to eat him, which is a known occurrence in the dysfunctional conditions of a fur farm. \u201cAs soon as I had him, he crawled into my hoodie and slept right there on the ride back,\u201d recalls Navarro, who drove for 30 hours from Mikayla Raines\u2019 rescue in Minnesota back home to Key Largo. Coral, who was three months old when she arrived at the sanctuary, is \u201ca true survivor. Her mother ate everyone except her and her sister.\u201d<\/p>\n As the foxes inquisitively wander in and out of frame during our Zoom call, it quickly becomes apparent that they are not only loved but understood. \u201cThey like routine,\u201d says Navarro. \u201cThey\u2019re very, very sensitive creatures. If I rearrange a part of their enclosure, and they don\u2019t like it, it\u2019s all sorts of drama.\u201d She explains that sometimes facilities that take in foxes will adopt them out within a short period. \u201cI decided when I started this that any foxes I ever got would be with me permanently. I know how sensitive they are after seeing it first hand. So, yeah, these guys aren\u2019t going anywhere.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Navarro\u2019s love for animals is lifelong. She grew up on a Western Pennsylvania farm surrounded by horses, with a naturalist and wildlife rehabilitator as a next-door neighbor. \u201cAt a very early age I learned to respect wildlife, [respect] the boundaries that come with rehabilitating wildlife, and then honor [wildlife] where they belong, in the wild.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n She was 36 and working at The Hemingway Home in Key West when Hurricane Irma hit in 2017. Navarro was among a small group of employees that decided to stay behind to care for the property\u2019s 60 cats<\/a>. \u201cI literally went through a category 4 hurricane, not having power and living very rugged for 14 days,\u201d she recalls. \u201cYou just find the strength to get through it.\u201d After the storm, she was once again called to be of service by volunteering at the Monroe County Sheriff\u2019s Animal Farm<\/a>, a local refuge for abused and confiscated animals. It was there that she had her first encounter with foxes, when two rescues from a fur farm ended up in her care. \u201cI became obsessed with these two foxes,\u201d she says of Lana and Rocky. \u201cI just fell in love with the species.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Foxes are naturally wary of human contact, so \u201cwhen a fox decides that you\u2019re alright, it\u2019s like winning the lottery.\u201d Navarro spent several months earning Lana and Rocky\u2019s trust, which became a pivotal experience for the would-be activist. \u201cOnce they decided that I was gonna be their person, I guess it just really lit a fire [in me].\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI had obviously known about fur being used in fashion,\u201d she continues. \u201cBut once you see the animal that\u2019s been exploited, something just happens.\u201d While interactions with cows and pigs are common for many activists, having one with a fur-bearing animal is unlikely. Colombian artist Praxis<\/a>, whose anti-fur street art can often be seen around New York City, had been an animal rights activist for close to a decade before he met his first fox at Pawsitive Beginnings last fall. \u201cIt was important to get closer to whom I am fighting for,\u201d he explains. \u201c[The visit] inspired me and reassured me that we need to keep fighting to dismantle the fur industry and all animal exploitation. Meeting these survivors [was] proof that a second chance at life is possible for beings like them, and us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Navarro\u2019s opportunity to provide that second chance came as the world went into Covid lockdown in the spring of 2020. On the night that she lost her job, she received a call: \u201c\u2018There\u2019s 20 foxes that can be saved. Are you ready to take two?\u2019 I was like,\u2018Yep!\u2019 Don\u2019t know how we\u2019re gonna do it, but we\u2019re gonna do it.\u201d By then, she had built up a loyal Facebook following, and was able to fund the rescue with their donations<\/a>. One early April morning Navarro drove to Ohio on nearly-empty highways, and a few days later she was back in Key Largo with Libby and Louie<\/a>, her first rescues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Fox sanctuaries in the United States are a rarity. And the U.S. is at a greater disadvantage than Europe in passing a country-wide fur ban because of its state legislature. 16 European nations have now outlawed fur farming. Germany has had a de facto ban since 2017 when production ceased because of strict new animal welfare regulations. In February, Belgium\u2019s<\/a> last fur farm shut its doors. Norway\u2019s fur ban goes into effect in 2025, and Italy is fully dismantling its fur farming by this summer. UK\u2019s last fur farm shut down in 2003, and now an effort to ban on fur sales<\/a> and imports is underway.<\/span><\/p>\n And while the U.S. is lagging behind, there are significant developments nonetheless. In February, a bill that included an amendment to ban mink farming<\/a> in the US (known as the America COMPETES Act, the successor to Bill H.R. 4310) passed the House of Representatives and is next headed to the Senate. In 2019, California<\/a> became the first state in the nation to ban the sale and manufacturing of fur, which goes into full effect in 2023. (Exceptions to this bill include cowhide, sheepskin and goatskin. It should be noted that the aforementioned fur-free luxury designers still produce shearling products.) The precursors to the state-wide California ban were bans in San Francisco<\/a>, Berkley and Los Angeles.<\/span><\/p>\n New York City, home to the world\u2019s biggest Fashion Week, might very well be next. In March, 2019, a bill to ban fur sales<\/a> was proposed by then City Council speaker Corey Johnson. Although it stalled with the previous administration, today there is renewed hope because half of the city council is now composed of new members. Allie Feldman, the founder of political advocacy organization Voters For Animal Rights<\/a>, encourages activists to continue putting pressure on designers who still use fur. She explains that each new ban shows the city council \u201cthat this is the direction the garment industry is moving in.\u201d She also wants to see activists reach out to their city council members. \u201cLet them know that banning the sale of fur is something that\u2019s really important to [you]. So that way, when legislation is introduced, [council members] will have a sense of where their constituents are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Not long after she founded her sanctuary, Navarro met New York area activists and quickly became involved in the anti-fur movement. \u201cWe know activism works, \u2018cause so many [designers] dropped [fur],\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m so grateful to be connected to [the activist] community. It\u2019s like I have two sides. I\u2019m the calm fox mom in Key Largo, making their dinner every night, tucking them into bed. And then when I get to come to New York [to protest], I put all of this feeling out there for the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n At protests and in everyday life, Navarro is compelled to educate others about \u201cthese six amazing animals that I have the honor to care for.\u201d She makes it clear, however, that while she considers herself the rescued foxes\u2019 representative in public spaces, she is not their \u201cvoice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI speak for the victims that can\u2019t be heard because they\u2019re trapped,\u201d she explains of foxes that are on still fur farms. \u201cThese guys,\u201d she says of her rescues, \u201chave their own big, loud, screechy, screamy voice. I don\u2019t have to say anything. I could just post a picture. They\u2019re their own best advocates.\u201d Speaking of voices, although foxes belong to the same Canidae family as dogs, how they sound is drastically different. \u201c[Foxes] have a couple dozen different vocalizations. Especially when they find their voice, once they\u2019ve been rescued,\u201d Navarro explains. \u201cWhen they\u2019re playing with each other, they\u2019ll scream and laugh. If there\u2019s something out in the yard I can\u2019t see, Libby \u2018sassy pants\u2019 does warning barks which literally sound like a woman screaming. It\u2019s very funny.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n In many ways, Pawsitive Beginnings offers a glimpse into what a fur-free future could look like for all survivors. Navarro\u2019s goal is two-fold: to help bring about the end of fur farming through advocacy; and to ensure that the animals in her care are living their fullest lives. Foxes, whether wild or captive-bred, have complex physical and emotional needs. And when those needs are met, like they are at the Navarro\u2019s sanctuary, self-expression emerges.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNot one of them is like the other, they [each] have their own individual tonalities,\u201d she says Navarro of her foxes. The youngsters, Coral and Reef, are at ease around people, having only spent a short time on a fur farm. \u201c[They] got to actually have a childhood [at the sanctuary]. They don\u2019t know anything besides love.\u201d Coral is the sweetheart and the attention-seeker. \u201cShe knows [when] I\u2019m talking about her and to her. When friends [visit], she is always front and center, way up high on her platform in the corner. So people can just walk up and pet her and worship her.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Reef, who\u2019s been with Navarro since he was five weeks old, is \u201cdefinitely a mama\u2019s boy. He seeks me out if he needs a quick cuddle just to know that I\u2019m here, and then he runs off.\u201d Lately, he\u2019s been going through a \u201cbad boy teenage phase,\u201d which doesn\u2019t always bode well with the other foxes. \u201cHe just walks around and annoys everybody.\u201d He\u2019s also a local celebrity of sorts, with his own column \u201cReef\u2019s Report\u201d in Keys Weekly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The adults, on the other hand, are more distant \u201cbecause of the trauma [of the fur trade].\u201d Libby and Louie are the \u201csassy\u201d ones \u2014 not interested in human interaction, but fond of each other. \u201cWhen no one\u2019s looking, these two will play. They will go at it. They\u2019ll be running back and forth. They toss toys around,\u201d says Navarro. \u201c[Libby\u2019s] favorite thing in the entire world are squeaky balls. But she\u2019ll go through two squeaky balls a day, so I have to have an endless supply. And there\u2019s only a certain kind that she likes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Penny is \u201cdoesn\u2019t like chaos\u201d and Jasper \u201cjust chills out and wants to enjoy life.\u201d When Navarro made the inside of her house accessible to him and Penny, \u201cit [was] like Jasper had been waiting for that moment his whole life. He [climbed] onto my bed, plopped down and slept there the whole [night].\u201d Not long after, Penny made herself at home too. \u201cIt\u2019s so funny\u2014in the middle of the night I\u2019ll wake up, and she\u2019s sitting right next to me, just staring at me. She wants to be really near me, but she doesn\u2019t want me to touch her.\u201d In her role as caregiver, Navarro is keenly aware of respecting her foxes\u2019 boundaries.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c[Nicole] is truly, honestly invested in giving these foxes a new life,\u201d tells me New York-based animal rights activist Rachel Ejsmont<\/a>, at whose invitation Nicole gave a speech at the annual Anti-Fur March in New York City in 2021. \u201cWho else [is] in a better position to talk about these foxes? She left us in tears. But like she said [during her speech], you can\u2019t \u2018sanctuary away\u2019 this problem. You have to shut down the fur farms. That\u2019s the bottom line and that\u2019s the goal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n One of the pathways to ending fur farming is getting designers and retailers to go fur-free. Ejsmont is a veteran of the anti-fur movement, and has organized countless actions across the city. She recalls disrupting a Michael Kors event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2017. \u201cWe took over the stage. And three months later, he dropped fur. And that was huge because he was always quintessential [in using] fur.\u201d Originally from Montreal, Canada (once a fur trade hub), Ejsmont formed an aversion to fur as a child while helping out at her parents\u2019 dinner parties. \u201cI would be at the door greeting the guests, and they would plop their fur coats in my arms,\u201d she says. \u201cIt felt like the fur was alive. I would ask my mom, \u2018What is this? This looks like my cat.\u2019 I was disgusted and mortified.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Three decades into being an activist, Ejsmont is certain that unity is integral to abolishing the fur trade. One example, she explains, would be weeks of simultaneous protests or disruptions in different cities, resulting in pressure on brands and retailers so immense that it would be \u201cimpossible for them not to cave in at some point.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Ejsmont has seen the efficacy of pressure campaigns first-hand. When she and fellow activists started targeting Saks Fifth Avenue in 2016 for selling fur, \u201cwe were relentless. We were doing banner drops with messages on them on the second floor, taking over the whole store.\u201d After years of activists being \u201cconstantly on [Saks\u2019] backs,\u201d the retailer declared in 2021 that within the next two years their stores would be cleared of fur. \u201cI think that sent a message to the fashion world [that] fur has been done to death. It\u2019s over. It\u2019s time to move on.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cGrassroots activism, PETA [doing] a lot of work behind the scenes\u2014every component is important,\u201d she stresses. \u201cEvery piece and every action that everyone puts in when they work cohesively, gets victories.\u201d And the victories have been hard-fought. When long-time outlier Dolce & Gabbana announced in January that they were going fur free, \u201cI had tears of joy,\u201d says Ejsmont. \u201cWe had been targeting them for quite some time. I couldn\u2019t contain myself thinking about all the animals that will be spared the suffering [on fur farms].\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Pawsitive Beginnings is a stark contrast to the misery of fur farms. \u201cI\u2019ve definitely found myself overwhelmed thinking about the ones who aren\u2019t saved. And that\u2019s just foxes,\u201d says Navarro, who\u2019s been vegan since the beginning of 2021. She has occasionally caught flack on social media for feeding her foxes a carnivorous diet. \u201cFoxes cannot be vegan. No way around it,\u201d she explains. It\u2019s a reminder that fighting for animals\u2019 well-being includes respecting their innate nature.<\/span><\/p>\n And the fight continues. Next up is LVMH, the world\u2019s largest luxury group. Its top-earning brands Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Dior rely heavily on fur, citing consumer demand and tradition. (Fendi began as a furrier in 1925 and calls fur a \u201cprecious material\u201d). CEO Bernard Arnault, the world\u2019s third richest man, has vowed to continue using fur even as the fashion industry moves away from it. <\/span>\u201cI don\u2019t know how much more money [Arnault] could possibly make off the suffering of these animals,\u201d says Ejsemont.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s so much to be done but we\u2019re chipping away at the block.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n She understands that LVMH will be \u201ca very tough, tough target.\u201d But tenacity is nothing new to the anti-fur movement. <\/span>\u201cWe\u2019re going to use everything we have in our arsenal. Disruptions, protests, going after bankers, investors,\u201d Ejsemont says of the LVMH campaign, which she expects to be long-term. \u201cWe\u2019re going to hit secondary targets. [We\u2019ll] get everyone on board and just keep adding the pressure non-stop\u2014phone blasts, emails, petitions. There\u2019s so much to be done but we\u2019re chipping away at the block.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s hope on the horizon. LVMH is in the beginning stages of developing a<\/span> lab-grown fur<\/span><\/a> made with keratin, with proof of concept expected in two years. One of its houses, Stella McCartney, is working with <\/span>Koba<\/span><\/a>\u2014a new material being heralded as the most sustainable fur alternative to date. Neiman Marcus has already halved its fur inventory and is on track to substantially increase its revenue from ethical products by 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n In Finland, the fur industry has taken a definitive hit as a result of various bans worldwide and unfavorable public opinion. \u201cProduction and the amount of farms are decreasing. There has been a big shift,\u201d says Mai Kivela\u0308, a long-time animal rights activist and vegan who was elected to Finnish Parliament in 2019. Her journey is documented in the new film <\/span>Just Animals.<\/span><\/i><\/a> <\/i>\u201cThe most promising action line is that the [fur] ban could come through the European Union,\u201d she explains. \u201cThere is very active campaigning from non-profits, as well as in political spheres. Two years ago, our biggest party (the Social Democratic Party) took the stance that they are also against fur farming.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Back at Pawsitive Beginnings, Nicole Navarro dreams of having more acreage for her six foxes and those she\u2019s yet to provide permanent sanctuary for. \u201cI have a vision of what the property would look like\u2014all of [the foxes\u2019] individual enclosures leading into one huge play yard that I could let them out into in turn,\u201d she says. \u201cI always wonder what they would do if they just had a chance to run, like really, really run. I would cry if I saw them run.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/laikamagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/pawsitive-beginnings-fox-sanctuary.jpeg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tReef<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/laikamagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/silver-fox-rescued-from-fur-farm.jpeg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCoral<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\nThe fur trade\u2019s long shadow<\/span><\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/laikamagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/fur-farm-cage.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA fur farm cage, now used as an educational tool at Walking Wild Rescue, run by Molly Schulz who is a close friend of Navarro’s<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/laikamagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/anti-fur-protest.jpeg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNavarro holds up a poster of her rescued foxes at a protest last fall in front of Dolce & Gabbana’s store in NYC<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n
Making rescue a reality<\/span><\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/laikamagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/pawsitive_beginnings-094.jpeg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJasper (foreground) and Reef<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\nSpeaking up<\/span><\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/laikamagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/pawsitive_beginnings-080.jpeg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNicole Navarro with foxes Jasper and Penny. The Florida Wildlife Commission requires wiring on all sides of animal enclosures, and is a condition of Navarro’s Class III. Pawsitive Beginnings has 700 sq feet of space, equipped with multiple levels for play and rest.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\u201cNot one of them is like the other.\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n<\/blockquote>\n
Shutting down the fur industry<\/span><\/h3>\n
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![](\"https:\/\/laikamagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/pawsitive_beginnings-173-2.jpeg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCoral (left) and Penny<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\nThe road ahead<\/span><\/h3>\n
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