Animal fur is a symbol of luxury. Because of the many different colors and patterns available, it is often used in clothing. But there is one thing you must realize. In order to get the fur, the animal must die. There is no possible way for a skinned animal to live. It is unable to re-grow its skin. Without skin, an animal would bleed to death or succumb to infections, insects or exposure.
Skinning an animal is cruel. It deprives an animal of its life and fur so that some person can dress up in luxurious pelts. Although the Unites States has a set of rules and guidelines about the way animals are treated before slaughter, our supply of fur is not limited to those that are skinned here. China does not follow these guidelines.
In China, 35 million fur skins (65% of China's pelt trade) are traded annually at the Shangcun Market in Hebei province. That is 35 million animals that were killed for their skins. The video above was secretly recorded by the Swiss Animal Protection (SAP) in February 2005. The video reveals that not only are animals kept in small wire cages with barely enough room to turn around; they are also subject to much cruelty.
One by one, the animals are lined up, awaiting their fate. Many of the animals are captured from the wild or produced in a mass breeding facility. The animals are ripped from the cages by their tails or with a metal pole around their neck. They are then slammed to the ground, stunning them as well as resulting in broken bones. Unable to move, they lie there convulsing in pain and trying to escape.
They are hung up by their tailes or legs and are slowly and painfully skinned alive. The skinning process begins at the feet, allowing time for the animal to suffer as the skinner slowly makes his way towards the head. The limbs that are free wriggle around, searching for escape. If the animal begins to struggle, it is bashed on the head until it is unable to move. Others are held to the ground as they are being skinned. Their breath is raspy because of the blood filling the lungs as a result of the beatings. Struggling results in their neck or head being crushed.
The remaining body is thrown into a heap of other skinned bodies; some of which are still alive. Writhing in pain, the animals slowly die of their injuries and blood loss. Breathing, heartbeat and eyelid movement was evident for 5 to 10 minutes after the animal was skinned. The whole time, the creature must be in agony. If you have ever received a really bad burn, you know how painful it is. This is because your skin was burnt off, revealing the soft tissue underneath. Now imagine that your whole body was burned. You would no longer have any skin to protect you. Any touch to you would be agony. If this happened to you, you would probably be screaming at the top of your lungs, wishing you were dead. No care is taken for the animal's wellbeing. There is no mercy; no merciful euthanasia beforehand. They are forced to lie still as their skin is ripped from their body. This is just cruel.
Humans do not need fur to survive. It is just a mere luxury item. There is no longer a need to cover oneself with fur to keep warm. Other material such as wool and cotton can be used to make clothing. However, because people enjoy the look of animal fur, faux fur was designed to help save animals lives. However, it is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between real fur and fake fur. In fact, clothing is often mislabeled. In some cases, fur that was labled as faux fur was actually raccoon, fox, rabbit, mink, dog, cat, or tanuki, also known as a raccoon dog.
The reason behind this mislabeling is because of the lax regulation of fur farms in China. With this in mind, in 2003, 40% of the united states imports of fur garments came from China, reaching a value of $1.8 billion dollors. China is one of the worlds largest fur producers, numbering as many as 10,000 farms, all of which reguarly kill animals for their fur.
In order to get around the rules, if animal fur was used, it was not labeled as animal fur. Because of this, there is often a misconception that it is faux fur. In order to increase the demand for fur, it is often combined with silk, wool, suede and leather. Animal fur can be dyed and undergo various treatments to make it look synthetic. After all, it is easier to simply dye real fur than to create each individual strand of fur required for fake fur.
People who buy fake fur in an attempt to help stop the skinning of animals may actually get tricked instead. In fact, animal fur has become commonplace. It is sometimes even found in children's toys and furniture. The only way you are to be sure you are not purchasing animal fur is to not buy any type of fur; real or fake. When you purchase fur, you are supporting the fur trade. You are helping them operate by giving them your money. If people do not stop buying fur, there will always be a market for it. That means that animals will continue to be killed for thir fur; killed so that people can carry around their dead skin.
It is unfair to the animal. It does not have a say in its fate. It is brutally beaten and forced to stand still as it is being skinned alive and then left, bleeding to death and in agony on a pile of corpses. If you wish to have the look of animal fur without the actual animal, consider faux fur but make sure you really know what it is before you buy it. You could be buying an animal's remains.
Lisa Hilburn
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