It’s rare I do a post like this. I’m not a raving leftie. I’m not an animal rights advocate. Actually, I do believe in animal testing… for serious life saving drugs that is, not for cosmetics. I don’t have a problem with wearing leather or suede, in fact I can even condone that because leather coats mostly come from a cow and suede mostly from a lamb, and as I eat those meats, it makes sense to utilise the whole animal by wearing it’s hide.
However fur is a different matter. Fur coats have never sat well with me. Rearing and slaughtering animals purely for their fur just doesn’t feel right, and quietly I’ve always looked down with disdain at people wearing fur on the street. But to be fair, I don’t really know much about the industry. I don’t really know how animals for fur are kept.
I’ve watched the recent slew of TV cooks educating us about how meat animals are raised and slaughtered in order to educate myself, it seems only right after all to be fully informed and make a conscious decision to eat meat or not, based on an understanding of the whole process. So when I came across a video showing the process of slaughtering and skinning animals for their fur, I felt similarly inclined to educate myself. This is that video (not suitable for young children), it starts harsh but you need to watch to at least half way in my opinion:
Now I wonder if the reason that footage exists on the net, is because it’s an extreme example, or whether that is common place? Judging by all the covered cages at the end, it looks like a permanent installation, which suggests that this video is routine. I for one was pretty shocked by it all. The issue with fur is that it’s so hard to track and trace with illegal imports claiming to be nice European raised fur when in fact they come from China, like the video. I’ve even heard that some real fur is died strange colours (pink and green etc) and sold as fake fur! Which seems barking mad, but if there’s a profit to be made, well that’s what people do huh?
So where does that leave us? Actually not much has changed. I will still look down with disdain on people who wear fur coats or coats with fur accessories, but at the end of the day, it’s a personal choice. I hope in some small way I’ve contributed to the cause by educating viewers of this blog in an issue they may not have known much about, and I’d be interested in your opinions on the subject.
And I promise, next week’s Friday Fun post will be a lot more jolly!
