Feb 4, 2007 | 10:01 AM
Category:
Weather
The sight of fur is a strong reminder of just how callous and cruel to animals people can be. Even a little bit of fur must stop. Furriers are doing everything they can to promote fur. They've even gone so far as disguising the species of the animals the fur came from or mislabeling the fur as fake.
There is not a single federal law that protects animals killed for fur in the U.S. This means that
fur farmers get away with cramming minks, foxes, raccoons, and chinchillas into tiny, filthy wire cages--where they stay for months or years, unable to run or play or enjoy any freedom or companionship. They are commonly exposed to snow and sleet in winter and scorching heat in summer and fed slop
instead of proper food. They are denied water, and they are
killed in frightening and painful ways. Animals raised for fur suffer poisoning, gassing, neck-breaking, and anal
electrocution.
To get "wild fur," trappers set metal traps to catch lynx,
rabbits, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, and wolves and leave them in traps to suffer for days--in all types of weather. The animals grow increasingly hungry and thirsty before some trappers even try to kill them by jumping on their chests.
Many are skinned alive.
Even dogs and cats are killed for their fur. Millions of dogs and cats are bludgeoned, boiled, strangled with wire nooses, and bled to death before they are skinned for their fur. Imagine if your beloved dog or cat were stolen and killed to be made into fur trinkets or fur trim for American consumers! It's unthinkable, yet it happens.
The fact that it is illegal to import dog or cat fur into the
U.S. hasn't stopped this part of the fur trade. The garments are simply mislabeled--marked as fox, raccoon, or some
exotic-sounding species. China supplies more than half of the
finished fur garments that end up on clothing racks in the
United States.
If someone buys any fur whatsoever--even the tiniest scrap--he or she could be wearing a dog or a cat. Either way, the consumer is wearing the remains of an animal who was tortured.
When you're asked what's wrong with fur, explain that every fur coat, lining, or trim represents the immense suffering of several dozen animals--including "trash catch" like dogs and opossums--and is made from the damaged skins of animals who struggled when someone tried to insert electric wires into their genitals.
With so many alternatives available to consumers, why would
anyone wear fur? Why would any thinking person perpetuate the
abuse and murder of millions of dogs, cats, foxes, minks,
chinchillas, raccoons, and other creatures?