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by WolfForce58205
#4. Most fur comes from China, which has no animal protection laws!
#4. Most fur comes from China, which has no animal protection laws! (Part 1)
Most fur comes from China, which has no animal protection laws!" This is a claim PETA people would make, because PETA has this listed on their site. However, this statement is a bit of a trap. Fur doesn't come from China in the raw as a large producer; China is not one of the top 5 fur producing countries in the world (who provide something like 85% of all fur on the fur farm market, if not more). China IS the biggest exporter of fur items however. How can this be? China buys up a lot of fur from the fur market to make them into garments or accessories or what have you. This is then exported. Ever notice how a LOT of stuff you buy has a "Made in China" sticker or engraving? Yeah, fur items aren't exempt from that. So a lot of fur PRODUCTS come from China, however China is not a big fur producer (there are not a lot of fur farms there). What's more, China is rather notorious for lower quality fur products due to their lack of regulation; inbreeding and worse conditions means poor fur. If the furs you see are cheap, they may be coming from China. This also points out the importance of knowing where your fur comes from though, because it is important to know who and what you are supporting. ( http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-0321/business/37883642_1_fur-coats-mink-wisconsin-farms http://www.kopenhagenfur.com/fur-farming/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fur_farming )
#7. "Fur is Wasteful! They Don't Even Use the Whole Animal!"
#7. "Fur is Wasteful! They Don't Even Use the Whole Animal!" (Part 1)
"Fur is WASTEFUL! They don't even use the whole animal!" Wrong! Fur farmers pay a lot of money for their animals, so it only makes sense to use the whole animal if you can profit from it, right? Hunters and trappers may use the parts of their animals as well, though that varies a lot more. Fur farms will render the fats of animals into oils...mink oil is actually quite useful, for example. Not only mink farms utilize the whole animal, but here's a short blip from Fur Commission USA about what the US does with our mink (our most fur farmed animal): http://www.furcommission. com/faq/#Anchor-35326 So that's essentially the case with farmed animals, and in the case of hunted animals it may be more common for a hunter/trapper to leave the carcass out for scavengers. Considering prime furring season is winter, when conditions for most animals are the most harsh, it'd be pretty nice for a hungry animal to stumble across a carcass already opened up (no fur on it when it's skinned!) like that. Of course many hunted animals are eaten, or the meat is even donated (there was a recent bout where a bunch of donated deer meat was destroyed rather than being donated to a food shelter, because the FDA couldn't guarantee the meat was a good enough quality due to the fact that it came from wild deer...in the meantime, people are still starving on the streets. Thanks FDA!). Animals that aren't edible for humans may also be fed to pets, or certain scraps that the hunter won't eat are fed to their pets.
#10. Cat and Dog Fur being Labeled as Other Types of Fur
#10. Cat and Dog Fur being Labeled as Other Types of Fur (Part 1)
"What about cat and dog fur being mislabeled as other types of fur?" Cat and dog fur is illegal to buy, sell, or trade in many countries. In some it IS legal though, with dog fur often coming from meat-dogs (raised just like food livestock in other countries) and cat fur coming from feral cats, in the case of Australia invasive cats who are taking a huge toll on the native wildlife to the point of near extinction. However, for a lot of countries it is illegal to import, and it is checked. When you work with fur it becomes easy to tell fur types apart, even from animals that are similar like a coyote versus a wolf, or bobcat versus a lynx. If someone tries to pass of dog or cat fur as something else, it'll probably be caught, and that person will face legal consequences. It's extremely unlikely you'll get mislabeled fur that was actually a cat or dog. If you do, you should enter the lottery. ( http://sammydvintage.com/vintage-style/fur-types/ )
#14: Animals Die for Fur and Hunting More than Anything Else!
#14: Animals Die for Fur and Hunting More than Anything Else! (Part 1)
When I looked on Google I found the number 100 million as far as animals killed for hunting (and this came from an anti-hunting page, so I doubt the number would be low: http://www.da4a.org/sport.htm ). Some less official looking sites said 200 million. Not sure which to believe, especially since doubling the number is a BIG difference. For fur farming, according to BornFree (again, an anti-fur website) over 36 million animals die annually for fur farming ( http://www.bornfreeusa.org/facts.php? p=372&more=1 ). Though that first website declared 40 million die for their fur which including trapping (otherwise a different website listed 30 million from fur farms alone), and I have seen this number on one other website as well as a global estimate ( http://animalrights.about. com/od/animalrights101/tp/How-Many-Animals-Are-Killed.htm ). Combined that means 136,000,000240,000,000 animals could be dying for the fur industry (however this estimate is much too high, since not all animals who are hunted are hunted for their fur...in fact, I don't know a single hunter personally who hunts for fur or antlers or trophy animals, a lot of hunters I've known or met hunt for meat. Sounds horrible, right? But wait, let's look at some more things. In the US alone, I found two different web pages that say 10 BILLION animals die for our meat industry annually in the US alone ( http: //awellfedworld.org/issues/animalprotection and http://animalrights.about. com/od/animalrights101/tp/How-Many-Animals-Are-Killed.htm ). That's on the higher side of estimates according to other pages I've found though, but they still ranged in the 9 billion sector. AND those were just for land animals (again, ONLY the US!). According to this little counter more than 150 billion animals die for meat world wide every year ( http://www.adaptt.org/killcounter.html ).
#14: Animals Die for Fur and Hunting More than Anything Else! (Part 2)
So if you eat meat or dairy or eggs, you contribute to a MUCH larger killer of animals (and for those who want to argue that dairy and eggs don't contribute to the meat industry, let's be honest here, in order to have milk you need baby animals...what do you think happens to these animals? The mothers when they're no longer good for milk? The males who are bred-out who impregnated the mothers? And for eggs, an egg laying hen only has a few good years of egg production before she's deemed to not be worth keeping. The hens don't get put out to pasture, they end up as food, whether it's human food or pet food). Even if you don't support the meat industry, you still support practices that kill lots of animals directly through harvest. Sorry vegans, this includes you unless you only buy from local small time farmers who don't use heavy machinery and do everything the old fashioned way either by hand or horse/mule/ox, or you grow your own food or forage. Unlike other farming we can't really come up with numbers, since no one keeps track, but it's said that millions die just for our plant crops, and then of course there's plants dying as well if that means anything to you ( http://abcnews.go. com/Technology/story?id=97836&page=1#.UJc7kobazTo ). Let's look at some smaller numbers. For animal testing there are about 20 million animals who die each year (and this is any type of lab testing). On our roads, it's estimated that at least 300 million animals die in the US alone every year...and those are just the ones counted for, so this doesn't include insects or tiny critters, or any critters who weren't reported to animal control or other authorities ( http://www.markbraunstein.org/vegan%20vegism/Braunstein-14RoadKill-100K.pdf ).
#14: Animals Die for Fur and Hunting More than Anything Else! (Part 3)
Wait, I said smaller numbers, but our roads alone kill more animals than hunting AND fur farming combined! At the higher estimates! Unfortunately other things I had harder time finding numbers on. Oil, for instance, though I did find the number of 300,000 birds dying annually, while there are 300-500 oil spills every year ( http://www.livescience.com/4979-oil-drilling-risksrewards.html and http://www.defenders. org/publications/impacts_of_outer_continental_shelf_drilling.pdf ). And we get a LOT more products from oil than most would want to believe. Logging was another one I couldn't turn up numbers for, but according to a couple of websites rainforest logging causes an estimated 50,000 species to become EXTINCT every year ( http://kids.mongabay. com/lesson_plans/lisa_algee/deforestation.html and http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm )...just a note, no, those are not all animal species, but plants are extremely important both for biodiversity and the survival of other species in the local area as well as for our own uses such as coming up with new medicine (who knows, maybe a species of tree or flower or other plant went extinct that could have cured cancer?). So in general more animals die for meat consumption and die as roadkill than for their fur (or hunted meat or trophy mount or thrill or whatever someone was going hunting for). If the numbers I presented here disturb you, be careful about what you buy and who you support when you do make a purchase, and spread the word.
Bibliography
Bibliography (Part 1)
Works Cited (in order of appearance): "Saving Society from Animal "Snuff" Films." Fur Commission RSS2. Fur Commission USA, 2 May 2011. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. http://www.furcommission.com/saving-society-from-animal-snuff-films/ "Chinese Fur Farms: Media Wary of Shock Video." Fur Commission RSS2. Fur Commission USA, 25 May 2005. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://www.furcommission.com/chinese-fur-farms-media-wary-of-latest-shock-video-3/ Beaulieu, Sue. "Resource Clearinghouse." Skinned Alive. Resource Clearinghouse, June 1997. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. http://resourceclearinghouse.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/skinned-alive.html "What Is Faux Fur?" WiseGEEK. Conjecture Corporation, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-faux-fur.htm Burke, Alex. "How Is Acrylic Fabric Made?" EHow. Demand Media, 22 Apr. 2009. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4927672_how-acrylic-fabric-made.html "How Are Plastics Made?" How Are Plastics Made? Reach Out Michigan, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://www.reachoutmichigan.org/funexperiments/quick/plastic.html
Bibliography (Part 2)
Freudenrich., Craig. "How Plastics Work." HowStuffWorks. How Stuff Works, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://science.howstuffworks.com/plastic.htm The Need Project. What Is Petroleum? Manassas: Need Project, 2001. Venoco Inc. Venoco Inc., 2001. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://www.venocoinc.com/community/learning/primarypetrol.pdf "Environmental Impact of the Petroleum Industry." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Mar. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_the_petroleum_industry "Oil Spills." Oil Spills. Partnership for Environmental Education and Rural Health, 2003. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://peer.tamu.edu/curriculum_modules/ecosystems/hazards/oil_spills.htm "Oil & Gas Industry Spills Happen "all the Time"" CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 12 Apr. 2011. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-20053283.html Kearns, Sean. "Rehabbed and Released, Do Oiled Seabirds Survive?" Humboldt State Now. Humboldt State University, 4 Aug. 2010. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. http://now.humboldt.edu/news/rehabbed-and-released-do-oiled-seabirds-survive/ West, Larry. "How Do Oil Spills Damage The Environment?" About.com Environmental Issues. About, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. http://environment.about.com/od/petroleum/a/oil_spills_and_environment.htm
Bibliography (Part 3)
"Environmental Impacts of Logging." Environmental Impacts of Logging. Forest Monitor, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://www.forestsmonitor.org/fr/reports/550066/550083 "BACKGROUND." Origin Assured. Origin Assured, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://www.originassured.com/index.php/initiative/ Chef and British Television Celebrity Merrilees Parker Explores Fur Farming in Denmark. Perf. Merrilees Parker. YouTube. YouTube, 15 Oct. 2009. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk9fCwmls8o&list=PL12442A9B13D4D382&index=5 Fur Farming Ethics. Perf. EcoFurs. YouTube. YouTube, 8 July 2009. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZejGndpWEkw&list=PL12442A9B13D4D382&index=17 "Industry Regulations." Fur Commission RSS2. Fur Commission USA, Jan. 2004. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. http://www.furcommission.com/welfare/industry-regulations/ "Fur Industry Regulations." Eastern Regional Conference. Eastern Regional Conference, 2011. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. http://www.csgeast.org/2011annualmeeting/documents/FurIndustryRegulations.pdf "Navigation." Fur Production and Fur Laws. Animal Legal and Historical Center, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://www.animallaw.info/topics/tabbed%20topic%20page/spusfur.htm
Bibliography (Part 4)
"Animal Welfare in Danish Mink Farming." Kopenhagen Fur. Kopenhagen Fur, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://www.kopenhagenfur.com/responsibility/animal-welfare/ "Humane Care Certification." Fur Commission RSS2. Fur Commission USA, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://www.furcommission.com/welfare/humane-care-certification/ "US Mink Farms Grow as Chinese Consumers' Demand for Fur Coats Sends Pelt Prices Skyrocketing." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 21 Mar. 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-03-21/business/37883642_1_fur-coats-mink-wisconsin-farms "Euthanasia." American Veterinary Medical Association. American Veterinary Medical Association, 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Documents/euthanasia.pdf "Fur Farming." Kopenhagen Fur -. Kopenhagen Fur, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://www.kopenhagenfur.com/fur-farming/ "Fur Farming." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fur_farming "Hunting Is Conservation." RMEF. Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, 19 Mar. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://www.rmef.org/Conservation/HuntingIsConservation.aspx
Bibliography (Part 5)
"Fish and Wildlife Service." Fish and Wildlife Service. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://www.fws.gov/hunting/whatdo.html Inua, Nuna. "Stop and Smell the Lichen." : Inupiaq Love..... BlogSpot, 10 Apr. 2012. Web. 29 Mar. 2013. http://salmonberryblood.blogspot.com/2012/04/inupiaq-love.html "As Hunting Declines, Conservation Efforts Suffer." New York Times. The Associated Press, 12 Dec. 2010. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/sports/13deer.html?_r=0 Destroying the Myth. YouTube. YouTube, 20 Mar. 2007. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsj-2o0ux14 Berk. "Trapping Facts." Trapping Facts. Committee for Responsible Wildlife Management, 7 July 2010. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. http://www.macrwm.org/trapping.htm Vantassel, Stephen. "Animal Rights Activists Gloss Over Trapping Facts | National Animal Interest Alliance." Animal Rights Activists Gloss Over Trapping Facts | National Animal Interest Alliance. National Animal Interest Alliance, 14 Jan. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://www.naiaonline.org/articles/article/animal-rights-activists-gloss-over-trapping-facts
Bibliography (Part 6)
Lamagdeleine, Michael. "General Trapping Facts." General Trapping Facts. Wildlife Damage Control, 21 Mar. 2002. Web. 256 Mar. 2013. http://www.wildlifedamagecontrol.net/animaluse/trapresearch/gentrapfacts.php "FAQ." Fur Commission RSS2. Fur Commission USA, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://www.furcommission.com/faq/#Anchor-35326 "Super Duper Recyclers." Fur Commission RSS2. Fur Commission USA, 28 Oct. 1999. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://www.furcommission.com/super-duper-recyclers/ Ruef, Joe. "Make Mine Mink." Make Mine Mink. Fur Commission USA, 15 Dec. 2001. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://old.furcommission.com/resource/perspect999at.htm "Producers, Consumers and Clothing Confusion." Fur Commission RSS2. Fur Commission USA, 11 Dec. 2000. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://www.furcommission.com/producers-consumers-and-clothing-confusion/ Davis, Sammy. "How to Identify Vintage Mink, Fox, Rabbit, Beaver & Raccoon Furs." Sammy Davis Vintage RSS. Sammy Davis Vintage, 8 Nov. 2011. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://sammydvintage.com/vintage-style/fur-types/
Bibliography (Part 7)
The Humane Society of the United States. Field Guide on Real Fur vs Fake Fur. N.p.: Humane Society of the United States, n.d. Humane Society. The Humane Society of the United States, 21 Oct. 2009. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/fur/field-guide-on-real-vs-fake-fur-final.pdf Lupa. "United States-Relevant Animal Parts Laws." United States-Relevant Animal Parts Laws. The Green Wolf, 27 Feb. 2011. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. http://www.thegreenwolf.com/partslaws.html Ryan, John C., and Alan Thein. Durning. Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things. Seattle, WA: Northwest Environment Watch, 1997. Print. "Delaware Action For Animals - ANIMALS KILLED FOR SPORT/FASHION." Delaware Action For Animals ANIMALS KILLED FOR SPORT/FASHION. Deleware Action for Animals, n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2013. http://www.da4a.org/sport.htm "How Many Animals Are Killed Each Year?" About.com Animal Rights. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2013. http://animalrights.about.com/od/animalrights101/tp/How-Many-Animals-Are-Killed.htm "The Fur Farm Fallacy." Born Free USA. Born Free USA, 2003. Web. 6 Apr. 2013. http://www.bornfreeusa.org/facts.php?p=372&more=1
Bibliography (Part 8)
"Factory Farms." A Well-Fed World. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2013. http://awellfedworld.org/issues/animalprotection "More Than 150 Billion Animals Slaughtered Every Year." The Animal Kill Counter. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2013. http://www.adaptt.org/killcounter.html Dye, Lee. "Researcher: Vegetarian Diet Kills Animals Too." ABC News. ABC, 1 Mar. 2008. Web. 6 Apr. 2013. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=97836&page=1#.UJc7kobazTo Braunstein, Mark M. "Roadkill: Driving Animals to Their Graves." Animal Issues 29.3 (1998): n. pag. Web. 6 Apr. 2013. <http://www.markbraunstein.org/vegan%20vegism/Braunstein-14RoadKill-100K. pdf>. http://www.markbraunstein.org/vegan%20vegism/Braunstein-14RoadKill-100K.pdf Nixon, Robin. "Oil Drilling: Risks and Rewards." LiveScience.com. N.p., 25 Jan. 2008. Web. 07 Apr. 2013. http://www.livescience.com/4979-oil-drilling-risks-rewards.html
Bibliography (Part 9)
"Oil Drilling: Risks and Rewards." LiveScience.com. Defenders of Wildlife, n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2013. http://www.livescience.com/4979-oil-drilling-risks-rewards.html "What Is Deforestation?" What Is Deforestation? Kids Mongabay, n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2013. http://kids.mongabay.com/lesson_plans/lisa_algee/deforestation.html Taylor, Leslie. "Rainforest Facts." Rainforest Facts. Rain Tree, 21 Dec. 2012. Web. 07 Apr. 2013. http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm#.UWD0nDec5Xs