Fur.

[BadlyDrawnSimpsonsCharacter]

"Inspired" by the culling of mink on fur farm in Denmark - AIBU to wonder why on earth, in this day and age, people are still purchasing fur?

There are enough videos and photos from fur farms that show how fur is acquired. I will not go into this as it is very, very disturbing.

If you are a fur wearer, can I ask why you choose to wear it, considering the torture the animal has no doubt endured to provide the fur?

For clarity I am not a PETA member/animal rights activist looking for an argument (although I do have strong views on animal cruelty, like the majority of people do).

I am genuinely interested in other people's views on this.

I had no idea that Mink was still being farmed in Europe and thought that Denmark was better than this. (Though their reputation on pig farming isn't brilliant either )
No I wouldn't wear fur even though I do eat meat and wear leather. I don't particularly like the feel of it and as I live in a very wet part of the country I would spend half the time smelling of wet dog and looking like something the cat dragged in.
As for real fur being expensive don't forget that there was an investigation a couple of years ago by the BBC about real fur being sold as faux.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46212094

@MrsToothyBitch. I imagine it looked better on the animal than on you. Why wouldn't you just buy an expensive imitation fur which would still look great but wouldn't involve skinning an animal alive? I don't know one person in real life who thinks real fur is OK.

Mine is vintage and in the 15 years I've had it no one has ever said anything derogatory. People under 55 assume it's fake and women over 55 tend to pet it and have whispered conversations about the fur they owned.

Most wool and leather is not a by-product of the food industry, unless you're counting pet food.

I am conflicted in that animal fur is a natural and environmentally friendly method of keeping you warm

I am the same, I don't own any fur. But I think I would if it was produced to a high animal welfare standard affordable and I wouldn't have to live in fear.

Especially as most fabrics have a % of plastic in them... all high tech winter clothing is made from manmade fibre and then coated with some other nasty stuff to make it wind & waterproof. Sweat shops aside, the impact on our water supply and landfill is huge. As these fibers are difficult to recycle, they often become brittle and are deemed useless.

I like to think an ethical fur coat will have less of an impact all round...

I eat meat. I wear leather. I'm comfortable with animals dying to supply their meat and skin to me. I source it from certified 'ethical' sources.
Faux fur fills the planet with micro plastics that will be here for millennia. Natural fur does not. My conscience is clear.

*12:59MustardMitt

Posted too soon.

I wasn’t actually aware that monks are still farmed, let alone to be 10% of Denmark’s exports*

Typo of the day

Just popped back into the thread to see my epic typo!

Mink are being farmed for eyelashes.

A lot of sick people are wearing mink eyelashes, some dont even realise they are actually from mink!

Agree. I've stopped using Etsy because looking for faux fur cushions I found real rabbit fur "sourced from Hong Kong". (There are lots of similar sites that don't sell real fur so I go there now). They sent me a really patronising reply when I emailed head office. Just because it's "legal to import it" doesn't make it mirally or ethically right. And I've seen how they treat animals for fur & meat out there. (Yulin Dog Meat Festival) .Being skinned alive etc . Revolting.

@Magicpaintbrush

"However an animal that is skinned alive then its writhing body discarded onto a pile...that's what I have an issue with."

They skin them while they are still ALIVE??? Fucking hell, that is horrific.

Yes (probably not in every case but for the vast majority). There are videos where the animals are frozen in terror, their skins ripped from their bodies whilst their heart is still beating. If that doesn't discourage people from wearing fur I don't know what will.

@Hopdathelf

BadlyDrawn what if your post were to read

But as someone who wears fur cheap clothes, do you not realise what the animal human being toiling in a sweatshop for pennies goes through or do you decide to ignore it?

Hypocritical much? Or do you only wear the finest garments handmade in Europe?

This thread is specifically about fur

The topic of human/slave labour in the fashion industry is for another thread altogether.

@CSIblonde thank you for not investing your money into the Etsy rabbit-fur products. Especially being sourced from Hong Kong - you just know those rabbits have been through hell and back for that fur.

To quote a famous advertising campaign from the past: fur is worn by beautiful animals and ugly people.

@BadlyDrawnSimpsonsCharacter do you have any reputable sources to back up your claim that the "vast majority" of fur is from animals which are skinned alive?

That practice is banned in most countries around the world, so if you do have any proof of it happening anywhere outside of those Chinese snuff videos from Peta you should certainly be informing the authorities.

Approximately 50% of the global fur farming industry is based within the EU and I would bet a significant amount of money that skinning animals alive is not allowed under any humane code in Denmark (mink) or Finland (fox), for example. See also the fur trade coming out of Canada or the USA.

@Lockheart thank you for the stats in your comment - I appreciate this and any education I can receive on the topic.

To be honest, the "vast majority" part of my comment referred to the fur farming practises in China. Probably shouldn't generalise but unfortunately most of my education regarding fur has indeed come from Chinese "snuff" movies, if you will.

I really hope you are right in your comment that this horrific practise is outlawed in most countries. It is truly barbaric.

It would be nice to return to the old style of using everything.
For example, we kill cows for food, so we should use the skins, have supermarkets selling bags of bones for stock (bloody pain in the arse to get some!). You know. Respect the source by using everything in a valuable way.
I would stop farming only for 1 purpose, absolutely.

@BadlyDrawnSimpsonsCharacter the videos which came out of China are horrifying.

I would question how well they represent the fur farming industry in Europe and North America, however - neither of which are without their own problems.

Unfortunately you could say the same of any factory farmed animals, be they intended for fur, leather, or meat.

@SchrodingersImmigrant

It would be nice to return to the old style of using everything. For example, we kill cows for food, so we should use the skins, have supermarkets selling bags of bones for stock (bloody pain in the arse to get some!). You know. Respect the source by using everything in a valuable way. I would stop farming only for 1 purpose, absolutely.

You can get bones for free at the butchers, mine just give them to you if you ask. Dogs love them too.

@Lockheart I thought so too but to my absolute surprise local butcher did not have any! I know! Mind blown. I did now find some in a "foreign supermarket"😁 They even cut them as I need for me. Lovely guys. But it would be so good to have them in shops to encourage people to use them.

Useful link here, OP, explaining why it doesn't make sense to skin animals alive: www.truthaboutfur.com/blog/5-reasons-animals-are-not-skinned-alive/

Also contains a bit about the "skinned alive raccoon" and evidence which was requested but apparently never supplied

I'll be completely straight and say the source is no more disinterested than PETA is, but all the same there are some interesting points in there

If you wear real fur your a cunt.End of.

[quote SchrodingersImmigrant]@Lockheart I thought so too but to my absolute surprise local butcher did not have any! I know! Mind blown. I did now find some in a "foreign supermarket"😁 They even cut them as I need for me. Lovely guys. But it would be so good to have them in shops to encourage people to use them.[/quote]
What?? That's surprising - maybe they'd just run out that day.

I often go to Polish, Japanese or other Asian supermarkets, it's amazing what you can still get there which Tescos don't stock :)

What?? That's surprising - maybe they'd just run out that day.
Nah. They are pretty shit. I think they don't break their own meat there, just get it ready.

Absolutely! I am big fan. Even scored calf feet last time in one of the shops. Now, that's exviting shopping.

Sorry for derail.

Never wore fur in my life and don’t even buy the synthetic stuff. But I’m vegan so at least I’m consistent. I have to admit I wouldn’t want anything to do with someone who wore fur, yet I’ve plenty of friends who eat meat.

I have no use for fur, wool is quite adequate in most of Europe. If I lived in Russia or Canada I would wear it though. If an animal would be dead anyway (food production or population control), what difference does it make if the pelt is worn? If feral mink in this country were to be culled (they're an invasive species), I see nothing wrong with making use of them. Synthetic alternatives have their own issues. I wouldn't buy it from China though. Frankly this year has shown that we should avoid dealings with China all around.