Dog and Cat fur trade in Europe

[undeterred]

More than three years ago, a majority of the European Parliament's members signed a written declaration calling for a ban on this type of fur. Only under Kyprianou's administration has the commission acted in response to the declaration and to the public's demands to ban the cruel trade within its member countries.

Humane Society International undercover investigators provided the commission with a staggering display of coats, rugs, toys and other items collected in the European Union and shown to be made from the domestic cats and dogs, coming mainly from Asia. Some of the items tested also contained high levels of chromium (from the tanning process), a metal potentially toxic to children. HSI also revealed that during undercover work, both Belgian and Czech dealers claimed that some of the fur came from local strays.

http://www.hsus.org/about_us/humane_society_international_hsi/hsi_europe/eu_commission_cdfur_directive.html

This totally creeps me out- the puppy in the back of the picture looks like my dog when I adopted him. Imagine finding out that the fur collar on your coat came from a domestic animal.

[Benhurst]

1. Recommended #2

[wicket]

8. #4

:kick:

[mongo]

2. OH MY GAWD!

Not other cultures using animals as livestock that we Americans have designated as cute and cuddly!!!

Pigs are way more intelligent than dogs and cats and yet we eat them all the time.

If the hides are coming mainly from Asia, then the cat or dog was most likely dinner. I for one am glad to see them using the hide too -- less waste.

If shelters in Belgum and the Czeck republic are selling the carcass of an animal that was euthanized, and would be euthanized regardless, what is the harm?

[praeclarus]

3. totally agree...

... try the subject of eating horse meat some
time at a party if things are getting slow. :)

[mongo]

14. And yet the same people

will gladly open a can of "mixed grill" the next morning for their cats.

I always tell mine that it's a special treat -- he could never take one of these down in the wild...

[silverojo]

4. What part of this didn't you understand?

"Some of the items tested also contained high levels of chromium (from the tanning process), a metal potentially toxic to children."

Since when is pigskin potentially toxic to anybody?

And it's pretty racist to assume that "Asians" eat cats or dogs. This is done in certain regions of Asia, but certainly not all of them. Asia has many different cultures, many of which value domesticated animals as much as we do.

So, yeah, it's pretty bad when people are doing business by selling something that could be potentially toxic.

[mongo]

7. chromium is used in the tanning process of 80% of leather

produced globally. You might want to check those shoes made overseas or that leather jacket too.

http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:yVmg6bOqbN4J:www.chromium-asoc.com/chromium/Chromium%26Leather.pdf+chromium+in+leather&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leather

Did you really think that pigskin is somehow tanned so totally differently than other leather?

Personally, I used to tan hides using a sulfuric acid bath -- not so good for any pair of overalls that I was wearing at the time...

[undeterred]

5. grunt

and snort

[AlienGirl]

20. Watch this video and tell me this is euthanasia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbXsxS7N2t0

[Cetacea]

25. notice how nobody responds

when they see the evil shown in that film.
Thank you for posting that, horrible as it is.

[AlienGirl]

26. I can only assume nobody thinks it's a particularly bad thing to do

Kuan Yin shrugged.

Tucker

[Cetacea]

28. that is saddening. eom

[flvegan]

6. Oh, but wait...according to some, we humans have an "intrinsic right" to kill animals

and do with them as we please. So then what's the harm? We ARE higher on the food chain. I like fur coats. It's MY dog/cat/goat/cow and I'll do with it as I please.

*taps foot, hands on hips* Hmmm...I know I'm missing at least one. OH, YES! How dare WE tell OTHER cultures what to do!!1!!

Blah, blah, blah.

I don't think I really need the sarcasm smilie on this one.

[mongo]

9. You forgot rabbits

Yummy, yummy tender and juicy 10 week old fluffy bunnies with those cute red eyes...

Geesh.

[flvegan]

12. You have to bite the jugular

to do otherwise, damages the fur. The meat stays tender regardless.

[mongo]

13. You have no idea

the difference in quality between a 10wk old bunny and an stringy 2yo doe you are retiring.

One is a fryer, the other stew meat.

[flvegan]

15. Actually, I do.

Ex father-in-law was one hell of a cook. He also saw serious time in Vietnam. Infantry.

I learned an awful lot from him.

[undergroundpanther]

21. We have a right to eat

To survive.To get the nutrients our bodies require.
Not everyone can go vegetarian.I can't. I can't absorb soy or beans, they come out the other end in ten minutes.It's a medical issue. Even the Dali Lama eats fish.I will not be badgered by vegetarian moralists who think they can convert me. I do not go veggie because I don't like feeling sick.

However we do not have a right to knowingly torture any other creature for any reason.We do not have a right to kill for"fun".

If you eat an animal kill it as quickly and pain free as possible and EAT it all, store share it but never waste it, If you raise it respect it, give the animal a decent life however short and do not mistreat it or feed it bad food.. .Use every part you can and do not waste.Respect the fact that what you eat once was alive and felt like you or I do.Respect the dead, even if you are eating them. Do not abuse the animals or their dignity.Don't take the animals you eat for granted.
But likewise surviving is a struggle. And in struggles some die so others can live. This is why I hate this world.I hate the brutality of evolution and the sadism of the human condition. We are in hell and I don't think vegetarianism will make it heaven here for lions will still kill impalas, and hyenas will still kill lion cubs for sport.Cats will catch birds and little fish will be eaten by big fish..Vegetarianism will not stop prey VS predator.

[LeftyMom]

10. Chinese fur farms generally prefer to skin the animal alive.

The belief is that the bodies are more pliable that way.

To address something mentioned upthread, dogs used in Chinese fur farms and dogs used for meat in China are different breeds. Typically the remains of animals in fur farms are fed to their surviving compatriots, not to human beings.

[mongo]

16. "skin the animal alive"

WTF? Do you think the animal is conscous and moving about in the process?

Step 1. Render animal unconscious.
Step 2. Cut off head (yes the heart is still beating)
Step 3. Start skinning.

[LeftyMom]

17. No, they don't cut the heads off.

There's plenty of documentary video out there.

[AlienGirl]

18. In this video, you can see the dog moving after being skinned, so yes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbXsxS7N2t0

The dog clearly raises his skinned head and blinks with the good eye that is left. You can see him breathing and obviously conscious.

[mongo]

32. I'll have to take your word for it

As I do not have an internet connection that runs video.

Yes, that is inhumane and torture.

I have to wonder if this is the exception to the rule though, because it is pointless.

[madrchsod]

11. wally world sold cat and dog fur stuff here in the states several years ago

i was at my local wally world and saw some fur lined gloves. after closer examination i discovered that the fur was either dog or cat fur. wally world was later busted in california .

found this on google http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2623845
EU proposes cat and dog fur ban

[nam78_two]

19. K&R/nt

[undergroundpanther]

22. Kuchinich was instrumental

In getting the US dog/cat fur ban. This guy CARES.
http://kucinich.house.gov/Issues/Issue/?IssueID=1552
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0512/11/lkl.01.html

[judaspriestess]

23. I was in Target the other day and was looking thru some CAT toys

sure enough, there was a toy mouse made with cat hair. I was disgusted. What should I do? where/what is the best place for me to say something?

[undergroundpanther]

24. Buy one and take it to

peta or some other organization that will test the fur. if it IS cat fur, than remember the company that made the mouse, if there is a tag, if not act like a customer buying the mouse remark to the clerk your cat loves them and you want to know who the distributer is and the company that makes them.. and remember the store that sold it to you. And shame the living fuck outta all of them, go in the store and inform shoppers that those toy mice they are holding are made with cat fur, get people shocked and talking. And soon the store will be shamed and won't buy cat fur mice..And get the distributer and company and shame them too in any way that works write the local paper put something on the web..get other organizations outraged...Call up the cat fancy association...
Alot of rabbit fur can look alot like cat fur..I have seen some very silky soft rabbit fur.It's hard to tell it's cat fur just by looking sometimes. sometimes the guard hairs are plucked, So until you see cat chatacteristics like a whisker pad or something that is feline looking it might be rabbit.

[Cetacea]

27. 10k fine for each item

if I properly recall. There are US laws in place for this. I do not recall who you can report this to but I am fairly certain it is one of the government agencies. I don't remember if it was a State or Federal.
I had a similar experience at a Pet Supermarket and in fairness to the workers there, they had no idea. The items were removed the following day.

[undeterred]

34. write the manufacturer and talk to the store's buyer

Not always easy to find out who they are though.

[tomreedtoon]

29. Oh, like YOU never ate at Panda Express!

Why do you think the chicken, the pork and the beef all look alike at that place?

Now that I have your attention, need I point out that fur is a really stupid thing for coats to be made out of in this century? Synthetic fiberfill keeps you warmer. The only reason for using fur on a coat is two words that people will really hate me saying - FEMININE VANITY.

And I note that this article is only attacking the use of dogs and cats. In fact, since there are so many of them (because people don't spay and neuter their pets) and their general uselessness (pet owners fall for all kinds of sentimental crap about the beasts they enslave) it would make MORE sense to use cat or dog fur. If you were going to use fur at all.

[FormerOstrich]

30. Darn it!!

I was all excited by the title. I've been telling my two dogs and cat we'd have it made if I could find a market for Molly hair. Molly is a cotton ball. I have fur in abundance.

However, I think I'll be keeping the fur producers.

[mongo]

31. You can always spin it into yarn

Although from the few I've heard that have spun dog hair into yarn -- it smells like a dog when it gets wet.

Very nice soft yarn though.

[toadzilla]

33. just don't buy fur!

its pointless, there's no reason whatsoever that someone needs to buy fur. then you don't have to worry about what animal it came from.

setting up some hierarchy for what animals are ok to kill and torture and what animals are not is moronic.

[applegrove]

35. I bought a cute little furry cat toy for my cats. I took it home. patted it and

thought..DAM THIS FUR IS REAL CAT FUR!!!