Dying for Fashion: Animal Suffering is Never in Style

In the past few years the international fur industry has waged an organized, well funded-PR campaign aimed at banishing the recent moral stigma attached to wearing fur. It has done so by mixing fur with silk, wool, suede and leather no longer limited to full-length mink coats or fox-fur jackets. The Humane Society of the United States reports that “many shoppers, who might flinch at buying a full-length fur coat, might still be seduced by a coat with a fur collar, or a scarf, or a handbag with fur detail. The animal connection may be less apparent with fur that has been dyed or combined with other materials.” According to the HSUS, in the last ten years, demand for fur, mostly from Europe and the United States, has increased dramatically. The success of the fur industry campaigns and these new manufacturing methods to make fur socially acceptable have almost imperceptibly brought fur back out onto the streets.

Eighty five percent of the world’s fur comes from fur farms. The Fur Free Alliance states that “each year, the fur industry kills over 50 million animals for fashion. In fact, the number of animals to make a single fur coat is as follows; 12-15 lynx, 10-15 wolves or coyotes, 60-80 minks, 27-30 raccoons, 10-12 beavers, 60-100 squirrels.” Consumers need to know that every fur coat, lining or piece of trim represents the intense suffering of animals. As a result of the rapid growth in fur farming, the absence of animal welfare protection and the surplus of cheap labor in China, the world’s largest fur exporter, Care for the Wild and Swiss Animal Protection (SAP) were prompted to collaborate on an investigation throughout 2004 and 2005. Fun Fur? A Report on the Chinese Fur Industry, exposes the horrors inflicted on animals at Chinese fur farms.

Investigators for the Fun Fur? report, obtained photos and video at fur farms throughout the Hebei province of Eastern China. The visited farms held anywhere from 50 to 6000 frightened and abused animals. The investigators saw Red foxes, Artic foxes, raccoons and minks all manifesting symptoms of a lifetime of abuse. These animals live out their entire lives cramped in rows of tiny wire cages. “There you can hear the frequent whimpering of the animals, like the sound of babies crying,” affirms the Beijing News. They pace, nod, and circle their heads repeatedly in signs of extreme anxiety. Other animals, overwhelmed by the conditions, develop learned helplessness and they curl up in the back of their cages. The Fun Fur? investigators tracked the animals as they were being transported for sale under brutal conditions. The animals were slaughtered next to the wholesale market by repeatedly striking their heads with a metal stick and in some cases, as seen in the picture above, they were skinned alive. Helpless, they struggle and try to fight back to the very end. Even after their skin had been stripped off, breathing, heartbeat and eyelid movements were evident for up to ten minutes, as seen in the picture to the left. The investigators reported that in some occasions the workers stepped on the animals’ head or neck to strangle it or hold it down. The shocking observations noted in the Fun Fur? report were confirmed by journalists of the newspaper Beijing News on April 5th 2005.

These horrendous atrocities must be stopped! It is our moral obligation to become educated consumers in order to end the needless suffering of countless defenseless animals on these fur farms. We must all stop buying fur garments and anything else with fur trimming and opt for faux fur instead. No animal should suffer simply for the sake of fashion. Nothing is ever worth all of the blood, misery, and pain. Fashion retailers will stop selling these products if no one is buying them. Many designer labels such as, BCBG, Ralph Lauren, Baby Phat, Kenneth Cole, Vivienne Westwood, Stella McCartney and many others listed on the Fur Free Alliance web site have made the humane choice to go fur free. As the HSUS Fur-Free Campaign states, “Through action, education, and compassionate consumer choice, we need to help designers, retailers, and other consumers realize one simple truth: The animals need their fur more than we do.”