There are laws banning the use of domestic cats and dog species for fur in Europe and North America and the members of the International Fur Federation have had a voluntary worldwide ban that pre-dates these laws.  Fur from domestic cat or dog is not suitable to be used in fur coats – there are plenty of well cared for farmed animals bred specifically for this purpose.  The fur trade actively supports all governments to legislate against any mislabelling of fur products and enforce that legislation.

Wild fur species are abundant.  In fact, trapping for fur is part of many wildlife management programmes in the countries that produce wild fur because fur species tend to be abundant predators which need to be controlled for the health of an eco-system.  The fur teade is actively adhering to the sustainable use conservation principle and is not seen as an issue by conservationists.  In fact the International Fur Federation has been a voting member of the IUCN (the International Union for the Conservation of Natutre and Natural Resources) since 1985 and sponsors IUCN Conservation projects.  Furthermore the fur trade and its members have encouraged and supported CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) Since its Inception in the 1970’s.

It is worth remembering that the majority of animals trapped are not for fur but for pest or environmental control.  Even so nowadays as part of the Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards (AIHTS) which the fur trade helped to establish, all traps used for any reason must reach a humane standard which, depending on the species, requires the animal to be killed outright and quickly.  Trap lines must be visited within a day of being set.  The fur trade is currently calling on the EU to implement the AIHTS.

It has been illegal to hunt baby seals (also known as whitecoats and bluebacks) in Canada (the largest producers of sealskins and meat) since 1985.  Over 90% of seals are hunted by trained huntsman using rifles, and seals are hunted to strict quotas set by conservationists according to population levels.  The annual seal hunt is independently monitored.  The International Fur Federation supports efforts to create international hunting standards for all seals hunted for any reason including those hunted to preserve fish stocks, not just those traded commercially.

Such cruelty is illegal in all fur producing countries, and moreover the fur trade actively encourages all governments to enforce anti cruelty laws.  Not only would skinning an animal alive be unimaginable sadistic and unethical, it would also be unnecessarily difficult, dangerous and result in a poor quality pelt.  In fact, the animal must have been dead for several hours before the pelting process can begin.  We think anybody who attempts to carry out such a vile procedure should be dealt with by the law.

The US Non profit Center for Consumer Freedom published documents online, obtained by a Freedom of Information Request showing that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ~(PETA) killed a staggering 95.9% of the adoptable pets in care during 2011.  Despite years of public outrage over its euthanasia programme, the notorious animal rights group has continued killing adoptable animals at its Norfolk, VA headquarters, at an average of 57 pets per week.