Post by Mel Mel on Jun 11, 2006 3:15:20 GMT
Facts:
What You Can Do:
Source:
Inside the Fur Industry: Factory Farms
www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=56
Sites to check out for more information:
FurIsDead.com
www.furisdead.com/
FurKills.org
www.furkills.org/
HSUS: Fur and Trapping
www.hsus.org/wildlife/fur_and_trapping/
- 85% of the fur industry's skins come from animals living captive in fur factory farms
- Fur factory farms can hold thousands of animals, and the methods used in these farms are designed to maximize profits, at the expense of animals
- Most commonly farmed animals are minks and foxes
- Chinchillas, lynxes, and even hamsters are farmed for fur
- Mink used for fur are killed when they are 6 months old (depending on the country), and minks that are used for breeding are kept for 4-5 yrs
- The animals are kept in tiny cages, stressful, fearful, living with disease, parasites, and other physical problems
- The United Nations reports that countries such as France are killing as many as 70 million rabbits a year for fur, which is used in clothing, lures in flyfishing, and trim on craft items
- The crowding and confinement in these farms is especially distressing to minks- solitary animals who may occupy up to 2,500 acres of wetland habitat in the wild. The anguish & frustration of life in a cage leads minks to self-mutilate and frantically pace and circle endlessly
- Foxes, raccoons, and other animals suffer just as much & have been found to cannibalize their cagemates in response to their crowded confinement
- No federal humane slaughter law protects animals in fur factory farms
- Small animals may be crammed into boxes and poisoned with hot, unfiltered engine exhaust from a truck (this is not always lethal & some animals wake up while they are being skinned)
- Larger animals have clamps attached to or rods forced into their mouths & rods are forced into their anuses, & they're painfully electrocuted
- Other animals are poisoned with strychnine, suffocating them by paralyzing their muscles with painful, rigid cramps
- Gassing, decompression chambers, & neck-breaking are other common slaughter methods
- In China, dogs and cats languish in tiny cages. They suffer from exhaustion, cruel transportation, packed so tightly into cages that they cannot move. Investigations revealed wounded and dying cats & dogs in the cages. Some were lethargic, fought with eachother, and some were driven insane from confinement & exposure. All of them were terrified. Investigators reported that up to 8,000 animals were loaded onto each truck, with cages stacked on top of each other. Cages containing LIVE animals were tossed from the tops of trucks onto the ground 10' below, SHATTERING the legs of the animals inside them. Many of the animals still had collars on, a sign that they were one someone's beloved companions, stolen to be blugeoned, hanged, bled to death, and strangled with wire nooses so that their fur can be turned into coats, trim, and trinkets.
- The globalization of the fur trade has made it impossible to know where fur products come from (so yes, fur sold here can be from dogs or cats)
- The amount of energy needed to produce a fur coat from ranch-raised animal skins is approx 20 times that needed to produce a fake fur garment
- Fur does not biodegrade because of the chemicals applied to stop the fur from rotting. The process of using these chemicals can also cause water contamination
- Fur factory farms are banned in the UK and both fox & chinchilla farming are being phased out in the Netherlands.
What You Can Do:
- Refuse to buy or wear fur
- Do not patronize stores that sell fur, and let the stores’ owners know why you won’t buy from their establishments
- Write letters to the editors of fashion magazines that splash fur-clad models all over their pages & explain how wearing fur supports a cruel industry & why faux fur is a much more compassionate option.
Source:
Inside the Fur Industry: Factory Farms
www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=56
Sites to check out for more information:
FurIsDead.com
www.furisdead.com/
FurKills.org
www.furkills.org/
HSUS: Fur and Trapping
www.hsus.org/wildlife/fur_and_trapping/