Anti-fur activists assume responsibility of bus depot fire near Helsinki

Anti-fur activists claimed on Friday to have launched the attack on a bus depot Thursday night in Vantaa, north of Helsinki.

Five buses of the long-haul and charter bus operator Pohjolan Matka were totally destroyed and others were damaged. No casualties were reported.

In an Internet message, an organization calling itself Animal Liberation Front (EVR) said they had set the buses on fire "because of the cooperation between the bus company and the well-known Finnish fur auction house Saga Furs."

Speaking to the press, the CEO of the bus company, Johanna Lehtonen, would not speak about the relationship with Saga Furs, saying her company never commented on customer relationships.

The fur activists said Pohjolan Matka chartered buses were being used to transport Saga customers to fur auctions.

Inspector Kimmo Huhta-aho of the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation told national broadcaster Yle that "fur activists seemed to be behind it."

Lehtonen said the losses caused by the fires amounted to over a million euros.

The fur industry is a contentious theme in Finland, but has enjoyed political majority support. The industry is important locally, especially in Ostrobothnia.

In 2013, a civic initiative to ban fur farms was defeated in parliament by a wide margin. Banning was supported by the Left League and the Greens along with individual votes from other parties. Endit