We have all heard at some point that wearing fur is cruel but has anyone ever told you why? If you don’t know why, it may be easy to fall into the trap of believing that wearing fur doesn’t cause animals any suffering. Sadly this could not be further from the truth. Careforthewild.com states that the fur industry makes its huge profits by keeping production costs down to the bare minimum.
On their website they inform readers that “Animals are kept in appalling conditions, crammed into row after row of tiny barren cages, and left to stand on metal bars for their entire lives. Even the method of slaughter is chosen purely with profit in mind, designed only to protect the valuable pelts, without any consideration for the animal’s suffering.”
The list of animals doomed to a life of suffering includes but is not limited to Foxes,Cats, Dogs, Racoons, Mink and Seals.
Image spending ten minutes cramped in a tiny cage, perhaps with other humans – arms and legs and nails digging into one another. Yes I know it sounds like the London Underground! But joking aside….it gets worse…imagine in the process you are scratched and injured and receive no medical care. Your muscles cramp. You thirst for water, you long too stretch your legs…10 minutes becomes 20 minutes…then an hour. The cramps in your muscles turn into shooting pains but you cannot turn or bring any relief to painful limbs. Then the fear sets in an you panic hard, struggling for freedom, becoming thirstier, hungry and in more pain. Others around you are defecating on you and this starts to seep into your already agonising sores, infecting them. The hour becomes 2, then 3…..but the suffering does not end for these poor animals who may spend their entire lives in cages. They will never know again what it is like to be free and instead will spend their lives in utter misery and agony, slowly being driven insane. Perhaps their final death would be a bless if it did not come with yet further brutality. Now put yourself back in that cage, wretched, mad with fear and pain and then being skinned alive and thrown around before that fatal blow to the head or your neck is snapped. It sounds pretty bloody horrifying doesn’t it? But this is not a horror scene from a novel. I am not sensationalising. This narrates the depressingly sad existence of almost ALL animals used in the fur trade.
My wonderful sister who is also an animal lovely bought me a fake fur coat the other day for my birthday. It is beautiful, soft and warm. There is no need to wear fur and there is nothing classy about cruelty.
I will not use extreme shock tactics of posting images of bloody animals used in the fur trade, as I realise that this can be beyond distressing. However the images are out there on google if you need to see it to believe it/
I will post a link to Peta’s video rather than embedding it into the page so you have to click if you wish to view it. It won’t just jump out at you and destroy your mind. Here is the link – and it IS extremely disturbing so do not view if you would rather not.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Cz8XLh5crDA
It has recently come to my attention via PETA that Harvey Nichols have recently started seliing products again that contain animal fur. If you would like to take action against this and ask them kindly to stop selling fur, you’ll be taking a huge step for animal rights. Please visit the link below to take action and ask for ‘Fashion with Compassion!’
http://action.peta.org.uk/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=5&ea.campaign.id=23120
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I sincerely hope you will spare a few minutes to help the animals of the fur trade. A couple of minutes from you could mean saving them from a lifetime of suffering.
Bless you and may your life be joyous and cruelty-free.
Kaz B AKA Karen Louise
Other useful sources:
https://www.causes.com/v2actions/1761099-a-petition-to-stop-wearing-fur-stop-supporting-retailers-who-sell-it-starting-with-revolveclot