It's that time of year again, fur season.  Sure, you may not have to murder and skin the animals yourself.  After all you never see anything before the finished product.  So are you thinking about a "prestige" fur coat this fall or winter?  Before you make your purchase blindly perhaps you should learn about the practices and truth behind this horrific fashion trend. 

If someone can sleep at night knowing that an average of 40 animals were tortured and killed to make their coat, then I cannot say anything other than to go right ahead... turn and look the other way while you buy a fur coat.  However, don't think that you're going to get "ooo's and ahhh's". A survey I performed myself on 50 random people shows that 90% of people quickly judge a person in a negative manner if they wear real fur.  Comments such as "I immediately assume the person is either heartless or ignorant", "I cannot even engage in conversation with someone who could wear fur", and "anyone who wears fur is just blinded by status, trying to be something that isn't even cool anyway".  50 million animals are tortured and killed per year across the globe for the fur industry.

Fur coats are made from animals "harvested" two ways.  One of these ways is by being "ranched" on fur farms.  Animals on fur farms live their lives in cages the size of a rural mailbox.   If the animal is a "breeder" they may be kept alive for up to six years in this claustrophobic and filthy condition without any love, care, or vet care. Many of these animals simply go insane, developing mental conditions such as consistently jerking their heads around and mutilating themselves.  When it comes time to kill these animals ranchers don't care how it's done, as long as it's cheap and doesn't damage the fur.  Often animals on fur farms are killed by anal electrocution, sometimes ranchers simply rip the heads off the defenseless animals, and other times they are gassed, put into decompression chambers, poisoned or injected, being left dazed and often being skinned alive. 

Another way fur is "harvested" is by the steel trap.  Steel traps are placed in areas where these animals frequent.  When an animal unexpectedly steps in the trap it snaps onto them.  At this point the animal is startled and scared so it tries to run, pull away, and/or trash around in fear which causes the trap to tighten and dig into their body all the way down to the bone.  Here the animal remains, tortured in pain for days or even weeks.  While in the trap animals are left vulnerable to predators, extreme weather conditions, starvation and dehydration.  Many animals must return to their helpless offspring, but never do.  They may gnaw or twist off their limbs where they stagger into the wild seriously injured and most often die in vain.  The animals who survive until the hunter comes to collect them often get clubbed.  However, a common practice for killing fox is for the hunter to stand on the trapped animal's chest and quickly pull its legs forward to crush its chest as it leaves the fur fully in tact. 

Seals are often clubbed in masses along the Canadian shores, defenseless and scared, left to die a slow death or even skinned alive. For more information about the atrocious seal slaughter visit: http://www.seashepherd.org/seals/

Animals killed for fur include, but are not limited to seal, beaver, coyote, ermine, fisher, fox, marten, muskrat, possum, otter, rabbit, raccoon, skunk, squirrel, weasel , wolf and even endangered species.  Yet, did you know that your fur coat may actually include man's best friend?  That's right!  The fur industry does not deny that dog and cat fur is legal to be sold in Asia, Britain and Europe, sometimes making its way unlabeled into the United States and other countries.  There has been a lot of attention brought to this issue by a video that was captured of a German Shepherd Dog puppy being tortured and then murdered as its murderers stood around laughing and joking about the puppy's screams of fear (www.voice4dogs.org).  China currently kills 2 million cats and dogs for the fur trade industry per year!  Without labeling requirements who is able to tell the difference between "approved" animal fur and dog or cat fur? 

Be aware of products that include fur but aren't listed as including fur.  For example, animal fur valued at less than $150 US dollars does not have to be labeled as fur.  So if you are buying a jacket with fur trim and you do not see any animal fur listed on the label it still may contain real animal fur. 

The fact of the matter is that there is no excuse to wear real fur.  Not only do we have fabrics that are much warmer than animal fur but for the people seeking the "look" of fur, the quality of faux fur has advanced so greatly that some products are hard to tell apart from the real thing!

What can you do? Don't buy fur in any form.  Be a vigilant shopper.  Speak up and educate others!  After all, some people truly just do not know the facts.  Boycott businesses that sell or use fur in their products and tell your state and federal legislators how you feel about fur.

For more information on how to make a difference feel free to visit the Best Friends Network here: http://network.bestfriends.org/animallawcoalition/news/5805.html

And lastly, PASS THIS ON! You can email this article straight from our website!  There is power in numbers and education is key!