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"Fur is green", says barmy new website

on November 23, 2007 Comments (9)

One of the maddest things I've seen on the web for some time has to be this new marketing site from the Fur Council of Canada, claiming that fur is 'the ultimate eco clothing'.

If that wasn't preposterous enough a claim in itself, the strapline used on the site is 'protecting nature while pampering yourself'. Now, I'm sorry if I've missed something here, but in what way is cruelly trapping animals and stealing their skins in the name of fashion 'protecting nature'?

The council tries to make the case for fur by saying it's environmentally friendly, because it's a renewable resource, biodegradable, and that trappers have to have the interest of the land as their top priority because they depend on it. "Farmers who do not care for their animals will not remain in business very long", they say. Somehow, I don't think that will convince PETA...

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Nina

The minks were no doubt beautiful before they were slaughtered and cut up, but there's nothing beautiful about wearing 50 dead minks on your back! And their carcasses don't constitute good protein even for dogs, but this does mean that the pet food makers (most of them - look for animal derivatives) can make a big profit from a cheap to make, poor quality product. Sadly, the majority of people still seem to view animals as a non sentient commodity to be used and abused as comprehensively as our creativity permits, as Kelly's comment shows.

Kelly Merkel

RE: Joanne

Did you know:

A full length mink coat (averaging 50 pelts) will have eaten 3 tonnes of garbage.

The mink carcasses aren't wasted, they are made in protein products that are put into pet food.

It it the creation of beauty from trash.

Tash

Joanne,

Well said! I wish we could educate more people on the fur industry and how indeed it is harming our planet as well as the poor animals who often get skinned alive in China so that vain 'nouveau riche' people can don animal skins in the West.

This sounds like something out of the 16th century but unfortunately it is happening in the 21st century.

Joanne

It takes 65 minks to make one coat. Each mink produces 44 pounds of feces per year that just gets dumped in our waterways. The bodies of the animals get discarded, creating more waste. Farming animals is the leading cause of climate change.

All fur must be treated or the pelt will rot just like unrefridgerated meat. Fur is treated with harsh chemicals that cause cancers in humans and destroy the environment.

Trapers have wiped out many species of wild animals. For each target animal trapped, 3 non-target animals are trapped. Traps are non-discriminatory, they will trap endangered animals as well as domestic cats and dogs. When a trapper says they don't trap non-target animals, they simply mean that they don't report it.

To believe fur is green, you have to also believe that polluting our waters with feces and toxic chemicals as well as trapping animals to the point of extinction is green.