ABSTRACT: While fur clothing may feel and look wonderful, feel luxurious and has a sense of ambiance, few people know the truth of what goes on in the fur trade industry
CONTENT: When I was a young girl, I vividly remember a raccoon fur coat belonging to my grandmother hanging in her closet. When my grandmother, mother and I visited my mother's Aunt Dorothy, in her closet was a luxurious mink stole wrap. In either case, I remember touching both the coat and wrap, feeling how wonderfully soft the fur felt, yet, even as a child, there was something nagging at me that it just wasn't right. In other words, in my mind, I couldn't help but think how some poor animals were killed just for these clothing items. And while I had recognized that fur coats did have a certain ambiance to them, I never became interested in ever owning any clothing item that had fur.
Some years ago, I saw the 1995 movie called Assassins, starring Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Banderas, and Julianne Moore. There is one scene, when Julianne Moore's character, Electra, is in the elevator with an older couple at a hotel. The woman was wearing a floor length mink coat. Suddenly, one hears this strange hissing sound. The elderly couple turn around to look at Electra who looks back at them with a charmingly innocent expression on her face. The couple look forward again to the closed elevator doors. Then once again, one hears that strange hissing sound, and the couple turn to look at Electra again. It isn't until one sees the elderly couple leave the elevator for their floor that you understand the reason for the strange hissing sound. On the back of this beautiful fur coat, Electra had sprayed painted a big red circle with a slash in the center.
Now one may almost laugh at such a scene, but after having read up on the true horrors of what goes on in the fur trade, I, as well as probably many others who are against the fur trade industry and the cruelties that are inflicted on the animals that are used to create fur clothing items, would no doubt probably just love to do the same thing as Electra's character had done to anyone who insists on wearing fur coats or clothing containing fur.
As I grew older, I continued to be turned off by fur clothing, and viewed it as nothing more than sheer vanity to wear fur coats. Why, I thought, when there are so many other alternatives in fabric one can wear? Yes, I could maybe excuse people that live in truly cold and frigid, bone-chilling climates in wearing fur where it may be an absolute necessity, but to wear a fur coat only to show off perhaps one's wealth and status while going to the ballet, theater or opera or some gala event to my mind my was just feeding someone's ego. I couldn't help think, that if these people, both women and men who wear fur clothing really knew the truth of what goes on in obtaining the fur pelts, would these people be so willing to wear fur ever again?
Many people may be under the delusion, that fur obtained from animals that are farm or ranched raised, live idyllic safe lives and are treated with kindness. If one starts to really investigate the truth they would be in for a shock. On the Humane Society of The United States website, one can download several PDF files that expose the truth behind farm/ranch raised animals, and these would include not only minks and chinchillas, but also rabbits, foxes, sables, ferrets and raccoon dogs. According to the one PDF file, entitled "Wild Caged Fur: The Inside Story" over thirty million animals that are raised for the fur industry are kept in small, cramped wire cages where the animals can hardly move. Due to their cramped living conditions, animals raised in such a fashion often develop severe behavioral problems, such as being stressed, continual pacing, swaying, head bobbing to self-mutilation. Cannibalism can also occur amongst female foxes who have litters often kill and eat their own young. Also, since many of these animals are inbred just to get a certain color fur, many are born with severe deformities and health problems. In other words, the entire means and methods that these types of animals are kept in are no better than puppy mills where dogs are raised for the pet trade in which identical conditions exist.
Now while many people may be opposed to the capturing of fur bearing animals by use of steel traps and think that farm or ranched raised animals are killed in a more humane manner, they're in for a rude awakening; they aren't. The common methods used in killing these animals are the use of Carbon monoxide or Carbon dioxide gases which kills the animals very slowly and painfully. Smaller fur animals are killed by twisting the animals neck until it breaks. Others are killed by anal electrocution, while last some are killed by injecting a lethal "cocktail" of poisonous chemicals.
If all this isn't enough to get you thoroughly disgusted with the fur industry, as you can guess, there's more to it and to my mind the most disgusting dirty fact that we people have been kept in the dark about. As with everything, those in the fur trade want fur that is cost effective, in other words dirt cheap and for many years have turned their focus in getting fur the cheapest way possible, and one of the largest countries to supply the fur industry is China. What is even more outrageous is that most of the fur from the Chinese fur farms aren't even from animals that are normally considered for usage of the fur industry and include cats and dogs.
On the PETA website, in their section called "A Shocking Look Inside Chinese Fur Farms" Chinese Fur Farms not only is there an article about the Chinese fur trade, but an undercover video that shows how animals are killed for their fur...it's by no means pleasant and one has to have a strong stomach to watch it. I did however, and my anger soared as I'm sure anyone else who watches this video. One sees a man grabbing at a raccoon dog cub by the tail, hitting its head repeatedly on the ground to stun it, a close-up shot of the raccoon is then given, with it's face bloodied. Then the person grabs the raccoon by the tail again, hooks it up and prepared to skin off the fur...all this while the animal is still alive. After the still live animal has been skinned of its fur is then tossed on a pile of other skinned animals....the camera shows the animal, its body now blood-soaked and it's head rises up to look at the camera. Another scene included in this video also shows a dog being skinned alive. It is repeatedly hit on the head to "quiet" the dog, at last resort, when the dog isn't being cooperative then man stands on the dogs head to crush it's skull.
Now, the real kicker in all this, is that consumers for the most part are being lied to in another area. Number one, many of the fur items sold in top stores are not even properly labeled. In one HSUS video it is disclosed that the fur trim on a coat at one of the better known and expensive New York City stores which was labeled as being raccoon fur was in reality fur from the dogs that are skinned alive in China. One can view this video and more like it here at the HSUS website. HSUS Website Also, as I see it, the worse offense is the lie consumers have been given about "faux" or fake fur, which in reality is also fur from dogs and cats. The highest usage of fur, whether real or "faux" for any kind of trim...be it on or in boots, hats, trimming on clothing is fur from dogs and cats and exported from the Chinese fur trade.
The good news, and yes there is some, is that a few top designers have elected not to use any kind of fur, whether real or not for their clothing and include Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Land's End among others. A listing of who those designers are here at this link: Fur Free Designers Unfortunately this is but a very small drop in the bucket as many major fashion designers, over 400 to be exact, continue to use fur for their wearing apparel. As long as there is an expected demand for fur by consumers, the fur industry will continue its practices. I even recently wrote a few emails to top notch stores such as Bloomingdales, Macy's, and Lord &Taylor, especially about the falsity about "faux" fur. The response I got was pretty much the same from all of them. In other words, while they understood my viewpoint about fur, that they had to consider their clientele who wishes to continue in buy fur clothing.
While this article may be a hard one to read, and if you elect to watch the videos are extremely hard to view, especially for those who are lovers of animals such as I am, I'm hoping that this article will expose the many realities that go on in the fur industry that may not have been known up until now.
Appalling Fur Facts
http://www.peta.org/feat/ChineseFurFarms/index.asp
http://video.hsus.org/?fr_chl=13fb64b467dae0cb41259e434020a731b3c9ef06&rf=sitemap
Other videos related to the fur trade on the HSUS website
http://www.hsus.org/furfree/multimedia/multimedia.html
PDF Files From The Humane Society Of The United States On Can Download and Read
http://www.hsus.org/forms/fur-free_campaign_materials_1.html
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