Facts
| An introductory video on the various aspects of the fur trade available here. Please get in touch if you need the video in a different format/size. |
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Statistics Each year the fur industry kills over 50 million animals for fashion, not including rabbits (no reliable data on rabbits killed worldwide for fur is available). 12-15 lynx 10-15 wolves or coyotes 15-20 foxes 60-80 minks 27-30 racoons 10-12 beavers 60-100 squirrels |
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Fur Factory Farms More than 45 million animals worldwide, including raccoon dogs, rabbits, foxes, mink, and chinchillas, are raised in cages and killed each year for their fur. Not only are cage-raised animals killed inhumanely, but they suffer from numerous physical and behavioral abnormalities induced by the stress of caging conditions. After spending their short lives in squalid conditions, animals raised on fur farms are killed by cruel methods that preserve the pelt, such as gassing, neck-breaking and anal electrocution. Further information: Caged Fur: The Inside Story Respect for Animals: Fur Factory Farming |
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Trapping Millions of wild animals, including bobcats, coyotes, foxes, lynx, raccoons, and wolves, suffer and die in traps each year. Countless dogs and cats, deer, birds and other animals—including threatened and endangered animals—are also injured and killed each year by the indiscriminate traps. Traps, including steel-jaw leghold traps, body-gripping traps, and wire neck snares, are inhumane devices that inflict great pain and suffering. Both the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the American Animal Hospital Association have declared the steel-jaw leghold trap to be inhumane. Further Information: Animal Protection Institute Get The Facts - The Truth About Trapping Fact Sheet: Trapping on National Wildlife Refuges |
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Cat and Dog Fur A 1998 investigation by The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) exposed the international fur industry's ugly secret: the widespread slaughter of companion animals—domestic dogs and cats—for the manufacture of clothing, accessories, and trinkets. Investigators witnessed firsthand the brutal slaughter of domestic dogs and cats in China and other Asian nations. Many of these animals are raised in cold, unsanitary breeding compounds. Some are strays. Others are obviously pets who were most likely stolen. And the killing methods are grisly. Dogs—German shepherds, chows, and mixed breeds—are bludgeoned or bled to death. Cats are often strangled by wire nooses. Further Information: Betrayal of Trust: The Global Trade in Dog and Cat Fur Respect for Animals |
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Canadian Seal Hunt Canada's annual commercial seal hunt is the largest slaughter of marine mammals on the planet. Over 300,000 harp and hooded seals are killed for their pelts each year, with many skinned alive, according to independent veterinary reports. The last time this many seals were killed—in the 1950s and 1960s—the harp seal population was reduced by as much as two-thirds. In 2005, 98.5% of the seals killed were just two months of age or younger. At the time of slaughter, many had not yet eaten their first solid meal or taken their first swim. They literally had no escape from the "hunters." Further Information: www.humanesociety.org/protectseals www.boycott-canada.com www.stopthesealhunt.ca |
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Newborn and Fetal Karakul Lambs Garments made from the pelts of newborn karakul lambs—often referred to as "Persian lamb," "karakul," and "astrakhan,"—are a staple of the fur fashion world. So too are garments made of fetal karakul lambs (known as "broadtail"), which the fur industry claims are crafted from animals born prematurely due to accident or exposure. In March 2000, investigators with The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) toured a karakul sheep farm near Bukhara, in the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan, and found that pregnant ewes are in fact routinely slaughtered for these fetal pelts. Graphic videotape shot at the farm shows a pregnant ewe held down, her throat slit and her stomach slashed wide so that a worker could remove the developing fetus—the "raw material" for coats, vests, and other broadtail fashions. What's more, contrary to the industry's claims that karakul lamb fur is merely a byproduct of meat production, HSUS investigators videotaped newborn lambs displayed as "samples" of pelt colors before being sent to their death. The pelts were saved, the tiny carcasses discarded as trash. Further Information: See the video or read the report on The Humane Society of the United States' investigation into karakul lamb fur production |
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Fur Trim The fur industry is working on a whole new line. No longer limited to full-length mink coats or fox-fur jackets, fur trim is the rage. From suit collars to glove linings, fur trim is being used as an accessory for many fashion items. Fur-trimmed items currently are a half billion-dollar industry. Fur trim is a frivolous luxury responsible for the deaths of millions of animals each year. The number of animals killed for fur trim is expected to overtake the number of animals killed for full-fur garments. Because the trim trade doesn't place as much emphasis on pelt quality, color, and uniformity, the quality of care given to furbearers is diminished. Further Information: A Little Bit of Fur Is Big Business Dog Scandal Pushes New Fur Labeling Bill |
