The Fur Industry Still Exists — BRIGHT | Ethical Lifestyle (2024)

It would be easy to presume that the fur industry is dying. Fashion houses are going fur-free, fashion weeks around the globe are banning fur from their catwalks, and faux fur alternatives are better than ever. However, the senseless abuse and killing of animals for their fur still continues. But are we seeing any progress? Is there any decline in the production and sale of animal fur? We take a deep dive into the cruel treatment of fur-bearing animals, why we must stand against it, and if a fur-free future could be in our sights.

The fur industry lies to us.

London luxury department store Harrods houses fashion brands such as Fendi, Max Mara and Yves Saint Laurent, which source fur from Finland's fox farms. Humane Society International/UK'sundercover investigationof these farms revealed shockingly cruel and inhumane practices.As part of their investigation, HSI sent an undercover shopper into Harrods, where sales representatives told them that animal suffering in the fur trade is "only propaganda". They said foxes live in "separate rooms" and even have "enough space to play", comparing it to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.

Harrods staff claimed that foxes are "literally put to sleep" with an injection, making it seem humane. The truth is that these animals are electrocuted anally without anaesthesia before being skinned for their fur. Sometimes the electrocution does not kill the animals, meaning they are still alive when workers take their fur from their bodies. The staff even went so far as to reassure the secret shopper that the fashion industry sources fur from the meat industry as a by-product, which is not the case. Fur farms are part of businesses in a different industry to animal agriculture, and this claim is clearly false as the consumption of fox meat is illegal in the EU.

Finland's fox fur farms are certified by the SAGA Furs association to be "the highest level of animal welfare". The manager of Harrods even refers to the fur in their store as "ethically and sustainably sourced". As the HSI undercover investigation shows, this couldn't be further from the truth.

These false claims and standards bring open communicated to customers and the general public are disturbing as the reality is something completely different.

Theinvestigation crewfound Finland's fur foxes locked inside small wire cages with diseased red eyes and deformed feet. These are known as battery cages and are used in both fur farming and animal agriculture to imprison animals.

What are wire battery cages?

Battery cages are generally made of wire on all sides, including the bottom, so waste from the animals kept in them can fall through to troughs (and residents) below. They are piled on top of each other in rows and columns to maximise space. The goal for these businesses is to house a high number of animals - more animals mean more 'product', which means more profit.

A typical farming setup is made up of large sheds, or in this case outdoor enclosures, with rows and rows of battery cages full of animals forced to live on top of each other; these are highly unnatural environments closer to prisons than what people would expect from farms.

Animals kept in battery cages develop debilitating physical conditions, such as foot deformities, breakages and sores. These are caused by pressure from standing or sitting on the wire base of the cages. That's just the start. Forcing animals into these cramped conditions causes stress and trauma. It creates an environment of poor hygiene, untreated injuries, minimal to no veterinary care and fast-spreading disease. Simply, battery cages used in animal agriculture and fur farms create ideal conditions for viruses to be transmitted or new viruses to be created.

The HSI investigation into Finland's fur farms found imprisoned foxes displaying physical and psychological trauma. Being forced to stand and sit only on a grid wire surface had given the foxes painful foot deformities. Fur farmers intentionally made the foxes obese to increase the amount of fur on their bodies. Their larger bodies and excessive fur folds made it even harder for them to move in their already cramped cages.

The psychological trauma suffered by these Finnish foxes is unimaginable. Denying wild animals their right to freedom, movement and their most basic behavioural needs is a clear form of torture. The foxes even showed signs of self-mutilation with their unkempt, overgrown claws, a known reaction to psychological distress.

How many animals are killed for fur?

Try to wrap your head around this - more than100 millionanimals are killed each year for their fur (with 85% produced in battery-cage farms). To help imagine the sheer scale of 100 million animals being killed each year, there are currently 67.22 million people living in the UK. The most exploited fur-bearing animals in the industry are foxes, minks and racoon dogs. However, the fur industry also kills cats, dogs and rabbits for their fur, which is often falsely labelled and sold as fur from other animals.

Is mink fur farming still happening?

The demand for mink fur is still going strong. As well as in luxury fur clothing and accessories, you can find mink fur in unexpected places, such as eyelash extensions and makeup brushes.Lush's#MakeFurHistoryinvestigation uncovered mink fur farms in Canada and North America that kept the animals captive in faeces-laden battery cages in dark sheds.

Mink are semi-aquatic animals, so being kept in fur farms with no access to water to swim leads to a range of physiological and psychological suffering. These brutal and unnatural conditions take a severe toll on these minks as they show repetitive behaviours such as continuous scratching and hitting the tiny cages.

Poland is the world's third-largest fur producer.Anima International'shidden camera investigationfound farmers killing minks by throwing them into gas boxes. Disturbing clips inside the gas box showed minks suffocating and helplessly running around for fresh air, suffering a painfully slow death.

Even when the industry claims fur-animals are "put to sleep", the reality is that many survive the toxic gases. Poland’s minks were tortured even further by being hit against hard surfaces and metal rods. Some were still breathing while laying on a pile of lifeless bodies.

This violence took place onlegally operatingfur farms in Poland.Nothing about fur farming should be legal.

So why is there still a demand for fur when it's so cruel?

In 'Fashion Animals', Joshua Katcher explores the evil aesthetic of animal materials such as fur. It's an attractive animal product that symbolises power and status. There is something indulgent about owning fur from exotic animals made through a controversial process; the more dangerous, the more rewarding.

Katcher also explains that luxury fashion purposely ignores and keeps the exploitation of animals under wraps. As we've seen from Harrods, sales representatives romanticised fox killings by insisting they're "put to sleep" and a by-product of the meat industry. The cruelty of fur must remain a fantasy to maintain the romantic appeal.

What was once a product reserved for the rich has become a more accessible luxury with the growing middle classes. As with most animal products, the ease at which fur has been industrialised makes it seem like it's not that immoral to kill animals and take their skins.

And, of course, the industrialisation of the fur industry comes with many other implications for our planet and well-being.

Why is fur farming bad for the environment?

There isnothing sustainableabout the production of animal fur. Just try to imagine the sheer scale of energy and resources needed for every step of the process as a starting off point.

From capturing the animal, feeding it, killing it, preserving its fur and then processing it to transport it across different countries until the garment is bought by customers - now times that by the millions of animals trapped and killed in fur factories worldwide.

Let's break this down with some statistics.

To produce 1kg of fur, you need the fur of 11 animals and 563kg of feed. What that looks like in actual coats will depend on the type of animal slaughtered for the garment as different animals - like people - weigh different amounts. We did some research on some (rather disturbing) fur coat forums - yup, they’re a thing - and can estimate that an average fur coat weighs 15-20kg so that is a minimum of 165 animals! This process contributes to more carbon dioxide than a flight from London to Paris. From these comparisons, it turns out that five faux fur coats have a lesser impact on the planet than one mink fur.

Fur producers push the false rhetoric of 'real fur is natural, faux fur is bad for the environment' to seduce people into believing that animal skins are eco-friendly. However, when skinned off its original owner, fur is no longer a natural material - it needs to be treated with toxic chemicals to prevent it from decaying.

Fur processing releases these harmful wastes into the environment leading to numerous concerns such as high pollution and possible carcinogens (substances that cause cancer). Some chemicals includeformaldehydeandchromium, which are linked toleukaemia and cancer.

These toxins can be absorbed through the air or skin and remain in the body forover 20 years. Some independent studies have found these harmful chemicals inside children's fashion jackets containing fur.

Not only animals but people working on fur farms are not safe from harm either. Fur production exploits cheap labour in less-regulated countries. Workers will be exposed to these chemicals daily with no proper protection such as gloves and masks, let alone appropriate health and safety rules or healthcare.

How has the global pandemic impacted the fur industry?

Many of us may have been hopeful that a global pandemic would have damaged the fur industry. Surely, with worldwide populations in lockdown, there would be a drop in demand, and what about our changing attitudes to animal farming and the spread of disease?

We asked HSI about this, and they told us about the significant and specific impact that COVID-19 has had on the fur industry.

“Without a doubt, the pandemic impacted the fur industry, and in a very specific way because the fur industry - specifically mink fur farming - became identified by virologists as a reservoir for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Outbreaks are continuing to take place in fur farms across Europe, most recently on 13 farms in Lithuania and four in Poland, but so far,outbreaks of COVID-19 have been confirmed on 465 mink farms in 12 countries(ten in Europe plus the United States and Canada) andalmost 20million mink have been killed(including approx. 17m in Denmark and 2.7m in the Netherlands).

Transmission of the virus has been recorded from humans to mink, from mink to mink and, in at least 5 countries, from mink to humans.

There have also been a number of breeding suspensions as a result, and in some cases this has led to countries ending fur farming altogether, notably the Netherlands, Italy and France. Denmark still has a mink keeping and breeding ban until the end of 2022.”

- Wendy Higgins,Director of international media, Humane Society International

Sadly, the pandemic didn't actually slow down the killing of animals, as millions were killed due to COVID-19 outbreaks.But there is still some positive news pointing toward the decline of the fur industry.

The fur industry have blamed their recent declining trade and poor performance on the COVID-19 outbreaks, but HSI explains that fur trading dropped in popularity even before the pandemic.

The average price of fur pelts has been falling for years as people are turning away from animal fur. Wendy Higgins from HSI says that “there have been a growing number of banks and financial institutions (ING, Standard Chartered, European Bank of Reconstruction & Development, etc) introducing policies not to invest in the fur trade;the pre-pandemic trading year of 2019 in the United States was the mink fur trade’s worst year on record, with pelt values at $10million less than the previous worst year (1992).” TheBBCalso reported on China's oversupply of fur, leading to an economic slowdown before COVID-19, with some fur companies shutting down.

The COVID-19 pandemic has acted as a more significant catalyst, making governments and businesses turn away from the fur trade, but it still continues to cost the lives of millions of animals.

Is there positive news in ending the fur industry?

There has been a public resurgence of recognising the cruelty of fur production, and it is creating change. We've seenbig fashion brandsdrop fur across their lines, including Versace, Michael Kors, Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, Giorgio Armani, Canada Goose, Prada and Burberry.Animal fur was completely banned from London Fashion Week 2018 by the British Fashion Council, and ELLE became thefirst fashion publicationto ban animal fur across their online and print content.

There are plenty of alternatives to real fur, such as faux fur made from recycled plastics and recycled denim, and there are a growing number of high-end fashion brands specialising exclusively in faux fur products. Some fur industry pushers claim that faux fur is hugely damaging to the environment, which is a fallacy compared to animal fur. We cover the environmental impact of faux fur in our next article in this series. The demand and desire for animal fur is slowly but surely reducing with increased awareness of animal cruelties.

Another recent achievement is Israel becoming the first country to ban the sale of fur. Italy also voted toshut downmink fur farms, becoming the 16th European country to ban fur farming nationwide. This decision shows us the importance of practical and sustainable solutions to this cruel industry. For instance, Italy's Ministry of Agriculture compensates fur farmers from a 3 million euro fund, money which could be much better spent supporting ethical and sustainable businesses.

It follows several breeding suspensions during the pandemic, which shut down fur farming altogether. Whilst this is enormous progress, more work is left to end the fur industry.

Next, let’s talk about fur in the UK.

Does the UK have a fur free policy?

Yes, and no. Fur farming was entirely banned by the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Act 2000 - which made England and Wales the first countries to ban fur farming. Yet, the scale of the UK's involvement in the global fur trade is nothing short of sickening:

• The UK imported more than £670 million of fur from farmed and trapped animals overseas.

• The biggest exporters include Italy, France, Poland, China and Russia.

• Finnish farms export more than £11 million of fox fur to the UK.

• The animal fur trade in China may also be higher than reported, as real fur is often sold as cheap fake fur, and these products have been found in the UK through a number of retailers.

There is also a concerning lack of regulation on fur producers and sellers. Boohoo, TK Maxx, Amazon and Groupon have all sold products labelled as faux fur, which were actuallymink and rabbit fur.

Despite over 20 years of a legal ban fur farming, these astonishing figures and misleading tactics from fur traders show just how much work is left to uphold animal welfare.

It's encouraging to see a public consultation from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) under review to evaluate fur sales' social and economic impact - it may lead to an outright ban on fur trading in the UK. But in the meantime, the UK continues actively participating in the fur trade, and cruelty against animals.

Want to stop the fur industry?

As you can see, there is much work left to do to secure a fur-free future in the UK and beyond. If, like us, you feel even more encouraged to help make a real change for fur-bearing animals, here's what you can do:

• Share the knowledge: you have the power of informing others of what happens inside the fur industry. It might be an uncomfortable conversation, but this is the reality.

• Informed decisions: check labels properly if buying clothes or accessories to see if they contain fur. If you're unfamiliar with something, search it online.

• Boycott brands that use animal fur: you don't want to be giving more money to these organisations. Find out which brands are fur-free and passionate about ending cruelty against animals in the fashion industry.

• Get involved with campaigning: research which animal organisations and charities are at the forefront of ending the fur trade. Check out the #FurFreeBritain campaign to get you started. Sign HSI's petition to end fur trading in the UK.

Millions of animals still continue to die at the hands of fur farming and trading. The mission to globally end the killing of animals for their fur may be closer than ever, with the pandemic changing the way governments, companies and consumers view animal exploitation. We each have the opportunity to make a difference by raising awareness of animal suffering, leading by example and standing against it.

References

• Joshua Katcher (2018), Fashion Animals, Vegan Publishers, pages 134-137.

• Adrienne Murray (2020), Fur industry faces uncertain future due to Covid, Retrieved December 20, 2021, from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55017666

• Collective Fashion Justice, Alternatives to fur, Retrieved December 20, 2021, from: https://www.collectivefashionjustice.org/fur-alternatives

• Colleen Kratofil (2021), Luxury Fashion Brands That Are Anti-Fur, Retrieved December 14, 2021, from: https://people.com/style/fur-free-luxury-fashion-brands/

• Emily Baker (2021), Fox Fur Farms Supplying Harrods Display' Shameful' Animal Welfare Practices, Retrieved December 14, 2021, from: https://plantbasednews.org/culture/ethics/fox-fur-farms-harrods-shameful/

• Fur Free Alliance, The Environmental Impact of Fur Farming, Retrieved December 20, 2021, from: https://www.furfreealliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Factsheet_Environmental-impact-of-fur-farming-1.pdf

• Fur Free Alliance, Toxic Fur, Retrieved December 20, 2021, from: https://www.furfreealliance.com/toxic-fur/

• Harper's Bazaar (2017), High-street brands accused of selling real fur as fake, Retrieved December 20, 2021, from: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/fashion/fashion-news/a14476638/high-street-brands-accused-of-selling-real-fur-as-fake/

• Helen Greaves (2021), Harrods brand reps deny cruelty to animals despite investigation showing shocking treatment at fox fur farms, Retrieved December 14, 2021, from: https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/news/harrods-fox-fur-farms-cruelty/

• Humane Society International / Europe, In an historic vote, Italy to ban fur farming and shut down all mink farms within six months, Retrieved December 21, 2021: https://www.hsi.org/news-media/in-an-historic-vote-italy-to-ban-fur-farming-and-shut-down-all-mink-farms-within-six-months/

• Humane Society International / United Kingdom (2021), Harrods' staff tell secret shopper that animals in fur farms 'don't suffer' and have 'their own private space' 'like Battersea', Retrieved December 14, 2021, from: https://www.hsi.org/news-media/harrods-fur/

• Humane Society International / United Kingdom, The Case For A Ban On The UK Fur Trade (Political Briefing Paper One), Retrieved December 14, 2021, from: https://www.furfreebritain.uk/resources/HSI-Political-Briefing-One-The-case-for-a-ban-on-the-UK-fur-trade.pdf

• Kalyeena Makortoff (2021), People in Great Britain being asked for views on fur trade ban, Retrieved December 14, 2021, from: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/may/31/uk-government-to-ask-citizens-if-it-should-ban-fur-trade

• Lush Cosmetics North America (2014), Exposing the Fur Industry, Retrieved December 14, 2021, from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAwHtWqV0sg

• Marta Korzeniak (2020), Shocking footage from mink gassing, minks dying in agony on a Polish farm, Retrieved December 14, 2021, from: https://animainternational.org/blog/mink-gassing-in-poland

• Molly Pickering (2021), ELLE magazine commits to ban the promotion of animal fur in its pages and online, Retrieved December 14, 2021, from: https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/news/elle-magazine-commits-to-ban-fur/

• RSPCA, Fur Free Britain, Retrieved December 14, 2021, from: https://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/campaign/furfree