Foxford Woollen Mills falls victim to a fox fur faux pas

Activists took to Facebook on Sunday night condemning what they mistakenly thought was the use of fox fur by a historic Irish fabric business — but the "fox" on the Foxford Woollen Mills product label had no connection with foxes. 

A world-famous Irish fabric business inadvertently attracted the ire of online animal welfare activists on Sunday after they mistook an abbreviation of the store’s name on a product label — “Fox” — to mean that the item was made from fox fur.

The historic Foxford Woollen Mills shop and visitor centre in Mayo was bombarded with messages from activists after the Irish Party for Animal Welfare (IPAW) shared a post featuring a photograph of a woman’s stole or long scarf from the store.