The fur industry has never been in such good health, boosted by production and demand from developing countries. Despite actions to improve its reputation, this industry is one of the most polluting around and sacrifices millions of lives to satisfy a need built on vanity.
While fur had all but disappeared from catwalks around the world, it is now back again at the heart of almost all designers’ autumn/winter collections. The fashion world, which had been so moved by the massacre of baby seals in the 70s-80s has forgotten that these massacres are still going on with the approval of governments and that many animals continue to be slaughtered for their fur: several tens of millions – as even fur producers admit – for turnover that has reached 15 billion dollars over the last few years and double-digit growth.
Boosted by emerging countries
Despite the current desperate economic situation, the fur industry is booming, boosted by demand from emerging countries, Russia and China most of all. Demand is continuing to increase with the appearance of a middle class that loves luxury and has the money to buy it. To cope with this demand, China has considerably increased its production: from 800 000 mink at the start of the 21st century, production has now passed 8-10 million skins and could product 20 to 25 million from 2010. This type of production has been shunned by the small world of designers because of its poor quality, but it should soon be taken up by a new generation of Chinese stylists who have been trained in and encouraged to use this material.
A polluting industry
While these figures may please the business world and economists, they do not fool either animal protection associations, people who are working to protect the environment or even those who are seeking an ethical and responsible world. The fur industry remains a cruel one and one of the lest responsible. Breeding animals for their fun causes the same problems as intensive farming: water pollution, emissions of ammonia into the atmosphere, eutrophication of aquatic environments, and so on. A university study revealed that the excrement from the 2.81 million mink farmed in the United States in 1999 produced nearly 1000 tonnes of phosphorous that was then found in the ecosystem. The energy needed to produce a genuine farmed fur coat is twenty times greater than that needed to produce the equivalent synthetic coat.
Trapping or farming: the same cruelty
In ethical terms and in respect for living creatures, things are far from satisfactory. Yes, breeding farms provide most animals, but trapping still represents 15% of the 50 million animals needed each year to produce coats and other clothes. The fur industry can attempt to “clean up” its reputation with the Origin AssuredTM label that has guaranteed since 2006 that fur comes from countries that protect animal welfare, join forces with governments to move rules forward, set up agreements on trapping conditions, work with scientists on more “humane” traps or slaughter systems – animal welfare is not and cannot be respected in farms. Trapping conditions, regardless of what they are, always lead to absolute agony that may be prolonged in some cases for animals. Farms and trapping systems must disappear for welfare conditions to apply.
This is the position that One Voice defends with its campaigns.
40 million mink killed in 2006 and 7 million foxes for the fur industry
(Source : http://www.futura-sciences.com)
How many are there in my coat ?
Several skins, and therefore several animals, are needed to create a single coat:
12-15 lynx
10-15 wolves or coyotes
15-20 foxes
60-80 mink
27-30 racoons
10-12 beavers
60-100 squirrels
BRANDS THAT GET IT RIGHT
Some brands no longer sell any clothes or accessories that include fur:
Bershka, C&A, Camaïeu, H&M, Helly Hansen, La Redoute (from April 2007), Mango, Massimo Dutti, Pimkie, Polo Ralph Lauren, Promod, Pull & Bear, Stradivarius, Vivienne Westwood, Zara.
