Is wearing fur unethical?
Animal impacts of fur
For many of us, wearing fur is simply cruel, and to be avoided at all costs. Campaign groups such as PETA have long highlighted the inhumane practices of fur farms. Shocking videos showing distressed animals have laid bare the conditions they are kept in to feed the fur trend.
Most of us agree that humans have a right to use animals for food and other purposes, but only if we cause them as little suffering as possible. The modern fur trade takes this responsibility very seriously. North America is the world leader in scientific research to make trapping as humane as possible.
We should stop buying and wearing fur clothes because it's cruel and unnecessary. Animals are enslaved, exploited, subjected to torturous treatments, and exposed to hazardous chemicals with destructive effects on human health and ecosystems.
Perhaps the most important reason people prefer real furs over other types of winter coats is due to the incredible warmth they can provide, even without being bulky. Most people want a coat that will keep them warm against the harsh winter weather.
Real fur items such as coats and hats, are often lined with synthetic petroleum-based materials such as polyester and nylon too. Fake fur is similarly toxic to our environment, as it is manufactured with non-renewable petroleum-based products and synthetic fabrics.
Far from being a natural resource, fur production is an intensely toxic and energy-consumptive process, with pelts being dipped in toxic chemical soups and animal waste runoff from fur factory farms polluting soil and waterways.
Therefore, no, it's not ethical; you're taking food / bedding out of the mouth of something that would have wanted that meal. Well humans started using animal skins and furs for many uses other then clothing. But just don't buy products that use endangered or protected animal parts.
Production is intensely toxic, as pelts are dipped in chemicals for preservation, while waste from factories pollutes nearby soil and waterways. 4. Millions of animals are killed each year using fur traps.
“Fur has always been a hot-button issue in fashion, and now more than ever because the consumer has the ability to research and decide for themselves where they want to stand,” said Robert Burke, founder of the luxury consultancy in New York bearing his name.
For the animals involved, leather production is just as violent, painful, and deadly as the fur trade. Buying leather also supports the meat industry. Wearing fur and leather means a living, feeling animal experienced a miserable life and often painful death, all just so a fur collar or leather shoe could be made.
Is fur more cruel than leather?
Leather is just as cruel as fur, but it is more engrained in our culture. Objectively, there is no difference between the cruelty of fur and leather. In both cases, animals are killed, and some of their parts are turned into clothing and accessories.
From an animal-rights advocacy perspective, it doesn't matter how the animals are being raised or how leather is being tanned. Like fur, leather is simply something no one should buy or wear.
Unlike real fur — which will eventually biodegrade, per Refinery29 — faux fur fibres could take hundreds of years to break down. In the meantime, it's likely to take up space on landfill sites. And when faux fur garments are washed, microfibres may leak into the water system.
