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furisdead.com
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Aren’t there laws to protect animals on fur farms?
Currently, there are no federal laws providing protection for the millions
of animals—including chinchillas, foxes, minks, and raccoons—who suffer and
die on fur farms. The fur industry remains completely self-regulated, which
means that animals are kept in crowded, filthy wire cages, where they often
develop neurotic behaviors and become sick or wounded, and fur farmers kill
them by breaking their necks while they are fully conscious or by using anal
or genital electrocution. Animals killed on fur farms are also commonly
skinned alive. Is it OK to wear used or “vintage” fur? Fashion should be fun
… and wearing a coat made from an animal whose skin was ripped off, even if
it was decades ago, just isn’t fun at all. Whether you purchased it from a
consignment shop or got it as a hand-me-down gift, vintage fur sends the
same unacceptable message as a new fur—that is OK to crush animals’ bones in
traps, to stomp on their heads and snap their necks, or to anally
electrocute them for the sake of vanity.
Is it OK to wear fake or “faux” fur?
Wearing fake or “faux” fur perpetuates a misguided message to the general
public. As many of us know, fake furs often look very similar in
appearance and texture. Often times, there is no way of knowing for
certain whether the garment is fake or real. Recent news has also exposed
numerous department stores falsely labeling merchandise containing fur/ fur
trim as fake, when it is actually real fur/ fur trim.
What about rabbit fur? Isn’t it just a byproduct?
Some stores try to justify selling rabbit fur by saying that it is “just a
byproduct” of the rabbit meat industry, but nothing could be further from
the truth! The rabbit fur industry actually demands the pelt of thicker,
older animals than those who are slaughtered for meat. In fact, the U.N.
reports that “few skins are now retrieved from slaughterhouses,” and
countries such as France kill as many as 70 million rabbits a year for fur.
Like other animals raised and killed for their fur, rabbits—who are
extremely clean by nature—are kept in tiny, filthy cages, surrounded by
their own waste. They spend their entire miserable lives standing on the
thin wires of their cage, never having a chance to dig, jump, or play. The
methods of slaughter are inhumane—to kill the rabbits, fur farmers snap the
animals’ necks or smash their skulls before stringing them up by their legs
and cutting off their heads.
Isn’t animal fur more environmentally friendly than synthetic
fur?
Absolutely not! Fur has fallen so far from grace that furriers are now
trying to convince consumers that pelts are “eco-friendly,” but furs are
loaded with chemicals to keep them from decomposing in buyers’ closets, and
fur production pollutes the environment and wastes precious resources. It
takes more than 60 times as much energy to produce a fur coat from
ranch-raised animals than it does to produce a fake fur. Plus, the waste
produced on fur farms poisons our waterways. And don’t forget … unlike faux
fur, the “real thing” causes millions of animals to suffer every year.
Animals in cages on fur farms don’t suffer that much because
they’ve never known anything else, right?
Wrong! Animals on fur farms are prevented from acting on their most basic
instinctual behaviors, which causes tremendous suffering. Even animals who
have been caged since birth feel the need to move around, groom themselves,
stretch their limbs, and exercise. All confined animals suffer from intense
boredom—some so severely that they begin displaying neurotic behaviors such
as pacing, turning in endless circles, self-mutilation, and even
cannibalism. Aren’t animals better off on fur farms, where they are fed and
protected, than they are out in the wild, where they can die of starvation,
disease, or predation? A similar argument was used to support the claim that
black people were better off being slaves on plantations than being free men
and women! Animals on fur farms suffer so much that it is inconceivable that
they could be worse off in the wild. The wild isn’t “wild” to the animals
who live there—it’s their home. The fact that they might suffer there is no
reason to ensure that they suffer in captivity.
Is the fur industry as cruel as people make it out to be?
It’s even crueler. Undercover investigations on fur farms have found that
animals are killed by anal electrocution, during which an electrically
charged steel rod is inserted into the animal’s rectum, literally frying his
or her insides. Exposed broken bones, upper respiratory infections, and
cancerous tumors were among the wounds and diseases that animals endured
without veterinary treatment on one fur farm that we investigated.
Animals caught in steel-jaw leghold traps are in so much pain that some actually chew off their limbs in order to escape. Since they are unable to eat, keep warm, or defend themselves against predators, many die in horrible ways before the trapper arrives to kill them. Others suffer in the traps for days until they are caught and killed. To avoid damaging the pelt, trappers often beat or stomp animals to death. Whether they are enduring the excruciating pain of a leghold trap or a lifetime of agony in a tiny cage, these animals suffer immensely.
Is it true that some companies actually use dog and cat fur in
their products?
Unfortunately, yes. There is a thriving dog- and cat-fur industry in Asia.
Most of this fur is falsely labeled as “rabbit fur” or simply not labeled at
all. Dog and cat skin is made into fur coats, fur figurines, and leather
shoes, which are sold to unsuspecting consumers in America. Without
expensive DNA tests, it is virtually impossible to know exactly what kind of
animal you are wearing if you choose to buy fur. And if you wouldn’t wear
your dog, why wear the fur of any animal?
What can I do to put a stop to the cruelty of the fur industry?
There are many ways to spread the message of compassion. You can help by
speaking with the managers of stores that sell fur and fur trim and letting
them know that you won’t be shopping there until they take the fur off their
racks. Set up an information table outside a store that sells fur or on a
busy street. Peta can send you posters and leaflets to use. Let fur-wearers
know how you feel about cruelty to animals, and have leaflets on hand to
educate them about it. You can also reach countless people by writing
letters to the editors of your local newspapers about the cruelty of the fur
industry.
Why Should Animals Have Rights?
Supporters of animal rights believe that animals have an inherent worth—a
value completely separate from their usefulness to humans. We believe that
every creature with a will to live has a right to live free from pain and
suffering.
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