Please be leery of any label that says “Faux Fur.”
“Faux” is a French word for “fake” – thus “faux fur” translates as “fake” or “imitation” fur.
Many shoppers who care deeply for the welfare of animals are being duped by the “faux fur” label. In some cases, the “faux” fur is not “faux” at all. It’s, in fact, the actual fur of a cat, dog or other creature that has been viciously, painfully butchered for the despicable fur trade.
In China, millions of dogs and cats are rounded up throughout the country and shipped to slaughter houses. Some are raised on “farms” or by villagers to make money off of the creatures’ fur. The helpless animals are kept crammed into cages, as many as 10 or more per cage, so they have no room to move. They are kept in those cages often for long periods without any water or food whatsoever until they can be shipped. Then, at their cruel destinations, the cages are literally tossed off of trucks and placed on an assembly line where they are delivered to the butchers inside the plant. The creatures are poked from their cages by workers using sharpened sticks. Once they emerge, yelping in fear and pain, they are clubbed to death and immediately skinned. Many of the dogs and cats are still alive during the skinning, and some of their bodies twitch in agony on the piles of skinless animals. Quite a few have pet collars around their necks.
Dear readers, I know this is strong stuff. I’m sorry if I’m upsetting you, but I feel I must be descriptive to give you an idea of how these practices should outrage every shopper in the world.
Several years ago, I saw a video of the process in China. It horrified me to such an extent that to this day I cannot erase those awful images from my mind. In fact, I constantly wish I hadn’t seen it. It arrived via email from an animal-rights organization, and I had no idea before I played the two-minute video just how devastating it would be.
In one way, however, I guess it’s a good thing I did watch it because it still underlines my long-time outrage against animal abuse and my determination to help stop it, partly by donating to PETA and to humane societies.
These Chinese dog-and-cat butchers, by the way, export their viciously-begotten furs to countries the world over. Companies then use the fur for everything from collars on dresses to gloves, from coat linings to the covering for cute, cuddly stuffed toys for children. Imagine the terrible irony of a child clutching a cute little stuffed puppy that had been fashioned from the hide of a brutally butchered dog.
This killing of dogs and cats is not just happening in China. It’s also going on in many other places. The reason? It’s profitable, that’s why. Let’s stop buying; let’s make it unprofitable. It’s estimated 2 million cats and dogs and other animals are butchered (electrocuted, drowned, beaten to death) for their hides.
Here is a disgusting statistic if ever there was one: It takes 24 cats or 10-12 dogs to make a fur coat.
The United States and some European countries ban importation of fur from domesticated animals, but there are ways around it, such as sewing on deceptive labels – “faux fur” being just one of them.
The fur trade is a vicious trade; good people everywhere should demand its abolition. In the meantime, nobody with any heart at all should buy fur products at all unless they are 100-percent positive the “fur” is truly “faux.” If in doubt, do not buy the item. Awareness, combined with outrage, is the key to stopping this ongoing horror. To learn more, google, “Killing cats and dogs for their fur.”
