Do not buy real or faux fur!

REAL AND FAUX FUR COME FROM ANIMALS THAT GO THROUGH TERRIBLE SUFFERING BEFORE BEING SKINNED ALIVE!

Why it is wrong to wear fur?

Many animals are killed for their fur, including minks, foxes, rabbits, sables, chinchillas, beavers, lynx, seals, racoons, coyotes, muskrats, wolves, otters, cats and dogs.

In addition, endangered and threatened species are also illegally poached and traded for their skins, contributing to the extinction of species such as tigers, leopards and ocelots.

The UK & Fur

Fur farming was banned in United Kingdom in January 2003. However, fur can be sold here. The greatest concentration of fur farms worldwide is in Northern Europe, which contributes 85% of animal skins used in the fur industry. The furs that come from animals not reared in farms, come from those that have been trapped in the wild; mainly in Russia and North America, however, fur trapping on a smaller scale does occur in other countries such as Argentina, New Zealand and Denmark.

Fur Farms

The animals raised in fur farms are denied any expression of natural behaviour; for instance, the most widely farmed animal is the mink, which is a solitary animal by nature and semi-aquatic, yet they are confined in cages side by side and are denied swimming water.

Subsequently, such ‘factory’ fur farmed animals are seen to display stereotypic, abnormal behaviours such as pacing, gnawing at the cage bars, self-mutilation and even cannibalism. They are kept in long rows of tiny wire mesh cages with wire mesh floors, so that their faeces and urine fall through the bars. It is extremely uncomfortable for the animals; however, their fur remains untainted and their cages do not need to be cleaned. The animals meet their end through gassing, decompression chambers, neck-snapping or electrocution through the mouth and anus.

These are all very cruel methods; however, what is of paramount concern to the fur farmers is not the welfare of the animals, but the preservation of their fur and through these methods, although incredibly painful for the animals, the fur is kept intact.

A study of the intensive fur industry, exposing the terrible suffering inside Finnish fur farms

ADI’s undercover report and video on the fur industry entitled ‘Bloody Harvest – the real cost of fur’ reveals horrific conditions at 30 fur sites in Finland.

The harrowing exposé includes: animals with open and infected wounds; obvious signs of untreated infection; eyes infected or missing; tails bitten off; deformed and damaged legs; overgrowing gum disease resulting in difficulty eating and drinking; babies with legs stuck through the mesh floor of the cage; dilapidated and dangerous caging and facilities; widespread animal suffering and neglect; empty, unclean and broken water bowls.

Our 2010 expose was launched in Italy, France, Finland, Israel and the UK and received celebrity support from Twiggy, Alesha Dixon, Jenni Falconer and Mary McCartney.

Many of the fur farms featured in our expose were certified by the Finnish government. Our investigation prompted both the Finnish Fur Breeders’ Association (STKL) and the Finnish Food Safety Authority (EVIRA) to carry out inspections on the farms. The Association’s own veterinarian inspected 28 fur farms, and found animal welfare shortcomings in six of them. Three of the farms had their certification of responsible husbandry revoked by the STKL, losing them all the discounts they would have been entitled to on fees charged by the auction company Finnish Fur Sales (FFS), resulting in losses of thousands of Euros.

Fur is an unethical product and designers who wish to use it in their collections, or those who wear it, must take responsibility for the way that their product has been produced.

http://www.ad-international.org/fur/go.php?id=2641&ssi=19