Coach Has Finally Gone Fur-Free!

Posted by Carly Day | October 31, 2018

New York-based fashion label Coach is joining the avalanche of brands who are taking a stand against fur, with a plan to phase it out in the short term before a complete ban by fall 2019.

The label, under the direction of chief executive Joshua Schulman, said that they made this humane decision based upon feedback from employees and shoppers who oppose the use of fur.

“We understood from our employee population and from our consumers that it was important to them that we take a stand on this issue,” said Schulman. “We’re doing it because we believe it’s the right thing to do.”

Although the ban will see Coach stop using furs such as mink, coyote, fox and rabbit, they will continue to use other animal products like mohair and angora — as well as leather.

Coach teamed up with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to discuss the move before the announcement, and the organization helped educate key senior executives about the cruel fur industry.

“The announcement from a brand as iconic as Coach is the latest indication that fur is just not fashionable,” said Kitty Block, CEO and president of The Humane Society. “Consumers worldwide are saying no and fashion leaders are following.”

The anti-fur movement has had some big wins this year. Notably, Los Angeles voted in favor of a ban on the manufacture and sale of fur last month, which will see it become the largest city in the world to go fur-free. Prior to that victory, in March this year, San Francisco joined West Hollywood and Berkeley in voting to enact legislation banning the sale of fur.

A slew of fashion labels over the last few years have made similar pledges, including Burberry, Gucci, Armani, Stella McCartney, and Vivienne Westwood, along with many more.

Even iconic fashion magazine InStyle has banned the promotion of any products that use fur — both within its photo spreads and advertising materials.

“The fur trade kills more than 100 million animals each year, with animals used for fur either trapped in the wild, where they remain in cruel leghold traps for days without food or water, or raised in cramped cages for their entire lives and then killed by electrocution or gassing,” said Block.

The tide is well and truly turning for the barbaric fur industry, and before long, those who continue to use it will be in the minority. We hope that continued decisions like this spell the end for the practice, consigning it to the history books forever.

“Fur Sucks When Its Worm By Humans Instead of Animals”

https://campaigns.peta2.com/terrified-badgers-bludgeoned-for-paint-shaving-makeup-

Driven Insane in Cramped Cages

Badgers are extremely social animals who naturally construct sophisticated underground burrow systems called setts, some of which stay in the family for generations. And they even have separate rooms for sleeping and giving birth as well as designated “bathroom” areas.

But on badger-hair farms, they can’t dig, forage for food, choose mates, or do anything fulfilling. As a result of the constant deprivation, many to go insane—continually pacing back and forth and spinning in circles inside their cages.

Bashed in the Head and Left Bleeding

Workers killed the badgers by bashing them in the head with whatever object was handy.

One was hit in the head with a chair leg. And because he was too scared to leave his cage, workers hit him again, causing him to fall onto the floor, where they cut his throat and left him to bleed out in excruciating pain—just like all the other badgers who were killed before him.

One badger was still moving for a full minute after his throat was cut. There is no excuse for this.

Is There Cruelty in Your Makeup Bag?

Here’s the deal: If you buy animal-hair brushes, there’s no way to know who was killed for them.

Many brushes made from animals are manufactured in developing countries where there are few animal-welfare regulations or none at all, such as in China. And no matter what country your brush came from, if it’s made from animal hair then it always comes from someone who suffered miserably for their entire life before they were violently killed … just for a brush.

PETA Asia eyewitnesses also found that brush factories exploit humans, too: One eyewitness was told that factories pay workers as little as US$4 for an eight-hour workday—far below even the local minimum wage, which is already extremely low: US$2.50 per hour, or US$20 per day.

London’s Fashion Week is Finally Going Fur-Free

Posted by Kenneth C. Wenzer | September 13, 2018

For the first time in history, London Fashion Week will have zero fur.

This magnificent gesture by the British Fashion Council represents a milestone in the garment industry and could influence countless consumers to ditch fur themselves. With the results of a survey in hand, this organization announced that there is “a cultural change based on ideals and choice made by designer businesses, international brands as well as consumer sentiment – but also encouraged by the stance of multi-brand stores who are moving away from selling fur.”

Over the past few years, we have witnessed an increasing tempo of humanitarian concerns in the garment industry, many of whose professionals have graciously joined in the fur fight. Designers are coming to the realization that their lines of apparel can be tailored without cruelty. One by one, leading fashion houses have dropped fur without a sacrifice to the most discriminating tastes of their clients.

For millennia, seals, beavers, foxes and other creatures were relentlessly hunted with agonizing trapping methods. More recently, these fur-bearing animals have been subjected to slaughter farms and confined in substandard living conditions. These establishments, located in numerous countries around the world, engage in the most barbaric methods to feed an archaic lust for pelts. One pro-fur group even claims: “The lure of fine fur has never faltered. We all share in this rich and varied history and the traditions that were the cornerstone of this great nation from it’s [sic] beginning.”

Bob Dylan wrote in 1964 that “the times they are a changin’.” And so they are, most especially for the fur industry. A global distaste for the wearing of fur is constantly gaining momentum. With the advent of the internet and the relentless campaign by advocates against the cruelty towards animals, we may soon realize a fur-free future.

Bite Back

Published on Aug 21, 2018

On the 19th of August 2018, activists entered a fur farm during a protest in Hjo, Sweden. 5000 mink were freed from their cages.

A heartfelt “THANK YOU” to the activists of Sweden, who released the imprisoned on the cages of their sadistic Farma operators.
The argument that the liberated could be run over by cars or cannot survive in the wild is weak.
Every fate as a free being is better than the brutal, agonizing death of every day and for long time.
And then, there are the direct or collateral financial damage to the farm.
We can not liberate all animals, but we can use practices that the animal-raising industry fears most.
That is the “economic sabotage”.

My best regards to all, Venus

Undercover footage by the Lithuanian organisation Kailiu Fermos shows what is being described as some of the most shocking suffering ever recorded on European fur farms. Lithuania is among the world’s largest mink fur producers, with as many as 2 million mink killed on fur farms each year.

The dreadful video (WARNING: EXTREMELY DISTRESSING FOOTAGE) shows mink dying and badly injured in small wire cages. One mink is injured so severely that its organs are visibly coming out of its body, other mink are suffering terrible sores. The footage also shows numerous acts of cannibalism and aggression. One animal screams and tries to crawl away while other animals tear at its insides from a gaping wound.

The Fur Free Alliance has said the video shows such distressing footage that several animal protection organisations have decided not to publish it.

Mink are predatory and wide-ranging animals, not adapted to living in battery cages. On top of that, mink are solitary and semi-aquatic animals. The stress of living in small cages with other animals causes extreme abnormal behaviour, such as cannibalism, self-mutilation and fighting injuries. When mink fall sick they are often left without any care on fur farms.

• Read Respect for Animals scientific report on the atrocious welfare of mink on fur farms

There are as many as 200 fur factory farms in Lithuania. Around 2 million mink, 4000 foxes and 50 000 chinchillas are killed every year on Lithuanian fur farms.

In 2017, over £100,000 worth of raw mink skins were imported into the UK from Lithuania. Real fur from farms with conditions like this is being worn on British streets.

Respect for Animals Campaign Director, Mark Glover says:

“These deplorable scenes are up there with the worst footage from fur farms that I have ever seen. The suffering experienced by these animals can barely be imagined.  This is the sickening truth about fur. Shame on the morally bankrupt fur industry and all who defend it.”

Gabriele Vaitkevičiūtė, head of Open Cages Lithuania, says:

“In small cages, the basic needs of animals cannot be met, so these problems are not isolated cased but occur on all fur farms. Animal welfare problems such as cannibalism and injuries are inherent to fur farms and are a result from the caging conditions. It would be naive to think that confining a few predatory animals together in one cage would not create aggression.”

 Respect for Animals (England)

– http://www.respectforanimals.org/is-this-the-worst-fur-farm-footage-ever-recorded/ 

Burberry to stop burning unsold items after green criticism  

Burberry is to end its practice of burning unsold clothes, bags and perfume and will also stop using real fur after criticism from environmental campaigners.

The British fashion house destroyed unsold £28.6m worth of products last year to protect its brand, taking the value of items destroyed over the past five years to £105m. It has previously defended its practice by saying that the energy generated from burning its goods was captured.

The FTSE 100 company now says it will reuse, repair, donate or recycle all unsaleable products.

Burberry will also end the use of real fur and says the debut collection from its new chief creative officer, Riccardo Tisci, to be presented on 17 September during London fashion week, will not feature any. Existing fur products will be phased out.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/sep/06/burberry-to-stop-burning-unsold-items-fur-after-green-criticism

Use Brexit to end fur imports, celebrities including Judi Dench, Ricky Gervais and Andy Murray urge Theresa May

‘Britain’s responsibility to animals does not end at our borders’

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/theresa-may-animal-fur-imports-celebrity-humane-society-international-judi-dench-paloma-faith-andy-a8252141.html

Above – Rabbits on a Chinese Fur Farm.

Dame Judi Dench, Paloma Faith and Andy Murray are among more than 30 celebrities urging Theresa May to introduce a UK ban on animal fur imports after Brexit.

Fur farming has been illegal in the UK since 2000, but fur from animals such as foxes, rabbits and minks continues to be imported.

According to Humane Society International (HSI), Britain has imported over £650m-worth of fur since the ban on farming.

A letter delivered to the Prime Minister on Monday and signed by 31 high-profile British figures argues “this makes no sense”.

“If fur is too cruel to produce in this country, it’s too cruel to sell in this country.

“We believe that Britain’s responsibility to animals does not end at our borders, but extends globally, to those animals killed to be traded into our country.”

A total ban on imports of animal fur is impossible as long as the UK is a member of the European Single Market, as fur products are still produced in several European countries.

Read more

• Denim ‘fur’ is latest sustainable fashion trend
• Norway pledges to shut down all fur farms by 2025
• The faux fur you’re wearing right now could actually be real

But HSI hopes that Brexit will provide the chance for the government to “close our borders fully to this cruel and archaic trade”.

According to HSI, more than 100 million animals die each year for the fur trade, many of them reared in tiny barren cages, electrocuted, gassed or even skinned alive.

Monday’s letter was written to support the #FurFreeBritain campaign, which calls on the government to extend a current ban on imports of dog and cat fur to all species and is backed by animal welfare charities including HSI, PETA, the RSPCA and Animal Aid.

Signatories include Bill Bailey, Fearne Cotton, Joanna Lumley, Ricky Gervais and Simon Amstell.

An inquiry into the fur trade was launched last week by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, which will examine “how the industry can be made more transparent” and look at post-Brexit possibilities for altering legislation around the import of fur.

The inquiry follows revelations last year that a number of major retailers including Amazon, TK Maxx, Boohoo and Groupon were selling products containing animal fur, despite advertising them as synthetic.