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Ethical living

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Original poster

What should we do with these fur coats?!

19 replies

bohemianbint · 09/12/2007 12:23

Hello,

My grandad recently died and when clearing his house out we've ended up with two fur coats, one red squirrel and one mink coat.

We have no idea what to do with them. They're really old, from a great aunt who's been dead for donkeys years. My mum wants them out of the house and was wondering if it was worth putting them on Ebay, but then doesn't want people getting the address and coming to lynch her...

What's the ethical thing to do here? Kind of reminds me of that episode of Friends...

OP posts:
CharleeSawMummyKissingSanta · 09/12/2007 12:29

DON'T PUT THEM ON EBAY!

My nan has a leopard fur coat (real) and i went to put it on ebay and they sent me a really horrible email saying they wouldn't put it on there becuase of animal rights actavists ect.

Original poster
bohemianbint · 09/12/2007 12:31

Hmmmmm. That's what I thought. I'm really anti fur myself, but I have no idea what to do with them!

OP posts:
SantaBeClausImWorthIt · 09/12/2007 12:31

Oh interesting! My mum had a mink coat which is still hanging in the wardrobe - not my kind of thing at all - as well as the fact that she was much taller than me and several sizes bigger than me!

I've been wondering what to do with it - it must be worth a bit of money if I can find somewhere to get rid of it.

CharleeSawMummyKissingSanta · 09/12/2007 12:33

My nan's is worth money it cost a bomb when my gdad got it for her but she has never worn it, it is tailored and silk lined i have to get round to sell ing it for her but no idea where!

camillathechicken · 09/12/2007 12:33

some ideas here

Original poster
bohemianbint · 09/12/2007 12:35

I just looked on ebay, there are several real fur coats on there and I've just got quite angry with a couple of the sellers who have bought the coats on purpose.

OP posts:
ruddynorah · 09/12/2007 12:37

my step mother made a load of cushions out of her old aunt's fur coats and accessories. you'd be sat there then realise a fox foot was sticking in your arse.

Original poster
bohemianbint · 09/12/2007 12:39

I suppose selling them might stop the hideous people who buy such things from creating demand for new ones?

OP posts:
Ubergeekian · 12/12/2007 10:45

CSMKS: I can't see why eBay got so sniffy in your case - a search for "real fur coat" turns up 210 hits. What grounds did they give?

I've never been able to see why fur is so much worse than leather, anyway, or why killing things to wear them is so much worse than killing things to eat them. Lots of inverted snobbery and class envy, I suspect.

TheDuchessOfNorksBride · 12/12/2007 11:00

If you're very anti-fur you could give them away to a charity shop? But a secondhand market in fur is more ethical than farming for new ones and there are furriers that deal with used coats that will take them off you.

Btw, it is a fallacy that leather is only ever a by-product of the meat trade - it often isn't.

CountryGirl2007 · 26/12/2007 13:32

I agree about making use of the old ones to try and stop the demand for new ones, never thought of that before!

Maybe donate them as bedding for a dog/cat rescue, kind of giving something back. or bury it, since it essentially part of a dead animal.

I think leather is usually the by-product of meat since there aren't going to be herds of cattle and pigs etc raised just for their hides, but in the case of fur, animals are bred just for that and often kept in horrendous conditions.

Shitemum · 26/12/2007 14:05

Put them on Spanish ebay - no-one gives a damn about animal rights in this country. Unfortunately they are also sniffy about 2nd hand things so might not work...

discoverlife · 26/12/2007 14:14

There are auction houses that deal with fur, (non-online ones) try your local big one. If you put it on e-bay make a new id and put in the ad that you have made a new one so that you don't get animal rights activists on your doorstep. Also make the bidding history private so that bidders will be private as well. Also make sure it is paid for via Paypal, that way you don't have to divulge your address.
Lots of 'also's' sorry.
Dont bury them as there may be some nasty chemicals still in them from the curing process.

pukkapatch · 26/12/2007 14:17

wear them,
i think it would br wrong to sell something like this.

Califraunkincense · 26/12/2007 15:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Shitemum · 26/12/2007 20:59

Califrau - we had one of those stoles when we were kids. We tied bits of string round its neck and top of the tail and made it into a great wolf marionette for puppet shows!
Maybe the OP could donate the coats to a puppet company for them to make hair and animal puppets out of?

thegrowlygus · 26/12/2007 21:12

My DS (age 3) found his great nana's mink and fox stoles in his grandad's wardrobe (again we just don't know what to do with them at all) and asked me could he go "look at the monkeys in grandad's wardrobe?" - took me a while to work out what on earth he was talking about.

They are horrible mind - both looking at you with beady eyes (the stoles - not my DS!) Foxy has all four legs and tail still tp drape about yourself should you so wish. Nasty.

Shitemum · 26/12/2007 22:48

growly - definately make a puppet with the fox!

toomanystuffedbears · 27/12/2007 03:22

We had the furs made into teddy bears.

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