FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions./ Anti-Fur FAQs from the Founder-

How many animals are killed each year for their fur?

About 85 million animals are brutally killed globally each year for their fur (although as you can imagine, it's only a very vague figure.) This in addition to hundreds of millions of rabbits. It means that every second an animal is killed only for its fur, only for greed, vanity and a very sick and twisted "Blood-Fashion".

How many animals does it take to make a fur coat? Besides garment, what kind of things would involve in using fur which we normally don’t aware of?

One fur coat is made of: 15 to 20 foxes, 30 to 40 raccoons, 20 cats,15 dogs and over 100 chinchillas/ Other small animals. Fur can be used for trims, for furniture, for cellular accessories, for toys, animal toys too, key holders, paint or make- up brushes, fake eyelashes (very often made of mink fur.)

What is the true color of fur?

The true color of fur is red (certainly NOT green despite the propaganda/ Rumors by the fur industry.) Behind every fur item, there is a barbaric story that amounts to piles of bloodied, slaughtered and skinned innocent animals discarded as trash: the basic and tragic simple truth that the fur trade works hard to hide. This is an unequivocal fact, that the fur industry could never be a part of a humane and compassionate society. The fur trade is not only responsible for the needless death of hundreds of millions of animals each year, it is also detrimental to global ecology. We should also remember that brutally killing animals and even skinning them alive, for fashion and greed is utterly not "green"/ environmentally friendly.

It is known that the fur production in China is very violent and cruel (with the skinning alive practice), how much do we know about those in overseas? 

Fur Farms in the whole world are very cruel. Animals are caged in very bad conditions, living a life of misery. Often wounded, and not even treated, as furriers seek maximum profit of their pelts, and would rather skip on veterinary care.We can send you tons of links from hidden investigations, from Finland, Norway, Poland, Spain, Denmark. All the same.

Do you believe the younger generation is more naive about the right and wrong in wearing fur?

There are 2 main reasons why today people still wear fur. The first reason is ignorance: They don't know the cruelty behind fur, but if they knew they would not want to wear fur anymore. The second reason is "not caring"; they know that fur is cruel and wrong but they just don't care. So is the youngest generation more ignorant or careless? I don't really know, unlike today more than ever, I think there is no excuse for still wearing fur: In the age of information, ignorance is a choice. In my eyes, people who still choose to wrap themselves with animal corpses do choose to promote and support one of the cruelest industries in the world. No animal should ever be tortured and killed so that we can have more trinkets to adorn ourselves! Wearing fur is shameful and reflects heartlessness. It is disgraceful. Everybody (not only the younger generation) should understand that fur can only look good on its original owner and that wearing fur is not anymore a status symbol of wealth but a status symbol of cruelty, indifference and ignorance.

Why do you think there has been an increase in designers becoming detached that the material they are using originates from living creatures? And is a lack of education about the ethics of fur at design universities and colleges to blame?

Yes, it may be a lack of education. Also there is no further consideration of what fur is, not a fabric, not something that naturally grows on trees, but abused & suffering animals. Also it is known that the IFTF (International Federation Fur Trade) has its own way to introduce fur everywhere. They give for free that expensive fur to young designers, so those seduced by it will naturally use it in their collections and on catwalks. Just to give another example of their methods: If there is a rising star doing shots for cover magazines, there’s a very good chance that it will be arranged for her to wear fur.

A recent lifestyle survey conducted by The Independent revealed that 95% of Britain's would not wear fur, yet sale figures, like for the rest of Europe are still occurring. How would you explain this?

I believe that there is a minority of fur wearers promoting the fur trade by dictating the catwalks, media, and consumer demand over a big majority of those educated about the cruelty associated with the fur industry. It is strange that 95% of Britain's won't wear fur but there is still a demand for fur in the UK. Not sure I would think of any explanation about it except for the bad influence of a few celebrities. What needs to be done: I have no doubts about it: Enacting bills that would ban the sale of fur. West Hollywood fur sale ban must be the inspiration and aspiration, just like the catalyst famous bill proposition, in Israel to ban the sale of fur. Outlawing fur is a very strong statement and it sends a clear message about the cruelty of fur and about moral justice.

What is your opinion about people wearing fake fur?

People wearing fake fur should really check well if the fake fur is really fake. As many times, D.N.A tests on supposedly fake fur clothes have proven that fake fur was not fake at all, but very real: Especially if the fur items come from China. They use cat and dog fur (cheaper for them) but they mislabel the items as synthetic fur. Also real fur can be mislabeled, being sold as wild cats/ wolf/ raccoon dogs, but in fact those furs also come from cats, dogs and rabbits in China. If someone still chooses to wear fake fur, it would be better though to pop out the fact that it is fake, like wearing anti-fur badges, for example, to avoid sending the wrong message that fur is fashionable and "okay". This is the real second big problem about wearing fake fur: "The wrong message it sends". The right message is that fur is not meant to be worn by humans and that it only looks good on animals. Quoting Pamela Anderson, about "Faking it or not": “Why would anyone want to look fat and hairy, anyway?" Also in a global historical way, fake fur had played a big role in the return of fur, since thanks to the alternative being available, it always remained a part of fashion, sending the message that fur is in fashion, and if fur is in fashion, then for the careless people, it won't really matter fake or real. Sometimes people ask how can they be sure that the fake fur jacket they want to buy is not real fur; My answer is very simple: "Just don't buy it!" Best way to ensure you’re not supporting such a cruelty by mistake.

What is your opinion about celebrities and people in the media wearing fur?

It's hugely disappointing and disgusting. At the same time, they are culpable for their selfishness and also for sponsoring the senseless mass murder of innocent creatures. They abuse their influence for promoting death and greed. Those celebrities are ignorant or heartless and arrogant. It’s wrong in both cases, even more so than an unknown person wearing fur. If you are a celebrity, you are in many cases a role model, so you can't afford to be ignorant or heartless and arrogant. As celebrities, their moral responsibility is to make this world a better place by spreading a message of compassion and justice for all living beings. I'd say, I have no respect for them. There should be a worldwide boycott on products & productions of all celebrities who choose to wear fur.

What do you think about companies who sell 'ethical' fur?

Have you heard about a humane carnage, a kind slaughter? Neither have I. There is no such things as ethical fur. Nothing can be ethical when it comes to fur and the fur industry. "Ethical fur" is just a term used to make people feel better about buying fur. Just have a look at videos concerning fur: you won't see anything ethical. It is just like the myth that only Chinese fur is cruel but European fur farms are ethical. Investigations in Norway, Finland, Denmark, USA had proven that once you see a fur farm, you have seen them all, and all of them are hell for the animals.

Do you think it is okay to wear vintage fur? And why?

No, it's really not okay. It would always be wrong and non-ethical: There is NO difference between vintage fur and 'just" fur. In both cases you are wearing animal corpses. Some were killed a few years ago and some were killed yesterday. There is nothing fashionable, trendy, right or sexy about wearing death. People would often use this "vintage word" as a great excuse for wearing animal fur. Also how can people really know what is "vintage" and not. Any fur shop owner can declare all their furs to be "vintage"...Who can verify...vintage fur retailers are definitely equally to blame for creating fur demand. I would say vintage fur is for a very fake good conscience. "A good conscience being a good trick of the devil."

What do you think is to blame for the sale of fur products?

People who care more about making money than being ethical and compassionate people. Shady celebrities wearing fur, also careless designers who still use fur. Ignorant buyers, stuck in the era of the Stone Age, refusing to evolve. People who buy fur have no less blood on their hands than people producing fur. It's about time for people to become fully aware about the cruelty behind fur and stop buying it, for good. 

Is it true that fur can be toxic, especially for children?

Based on the “poison in fur” reports: Fur is not only unspeakably cruel and a fashion "faux pas" that makes people look ignorant and cold-hearted, it can also affect the heath. Indeed, fur can also be dangerous: A very detailed study commissioned by "FOUR PAWS International" reveals that fur fashion is contaminated with poisonous chemicals. The investigation shows harmful substance contamination in fur products. 50% of the tested items were found highly contaminated: not recommended. 43% were found very highly contaminated: damaging to health. 7% only were found moderately contaminated: partly recommended.(1) The “Poison Report” shows that a child's jacket with toxic fur edging was the sample in the test with the highest contamination of chemicals damaging to health. Fur sample results showed that 10 of the 13 samples (77%) contained amounts of formaldehyde which exceeded the 30mg/kg amount permitted by the EU directive.(2) Fur garments are processed with caustic and often toxic chemicals hazardous to human health.(3)

References:
(1) “Poison in fur” – report summary 

https://www.furfreealliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/FourPaws-2011_Poison-in-Furs-Report.pdf

(2) Humane Society – report summary 
http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/fur/toxic-fur-january-22-2009.pdf

What are your plans for the future involving the fur industry and stopping it?

Seeking justice for the silent victims of this industry. Never to stop acting, advocating, protesting, educating, fighting for the animals, being their voice, never failing them, never giving up on them. The main issue once again for us is to keep moving on with anti-fur bills worldwide. The only thing that achieves real change has always been, is and will always be laws. We need to enact and pass anti-fur laws/bills worldwide for banning the sale of fur. Anti-fur protests are very important as is raising awareness and bringing up the subject publicly, but this is not enough. This was the major mistake of the activists, back in the eighties: they had remarkably won the fight over fur, by making fur immoral and out of fashion, but forgot to back this up by acting in the political field.  Some shallow and immoral shady celebrities made fur "moral" again nowadays, so we will make it illegal. 

We understand IAFC was founded in 2006. What was the biggest challenge and what are your goals?

The hardest part/biggest challenge is about the groundbreaking bill to ban the sale of fur in Israel, first introduced in 2009. Furriers are doing everything to stop this bill, knowing that this bill is very inspirational for the rest of the world. About the pro-fur efforts to stop this bill, you can read here on our website at the "Fur Trade"section under the title: "Israel". 

Our goals: confronting those cruelties through major campaigns targeting the barbaric practices of the fur trade, advocating to reduce and hopefully end animal suffering. Our intent is to implement meaningful improvement of the fate of animals, exposing the truth about fur, via creating media and public awareness, public pressure on fur selling companies, promoting anti-fur industry legislation, and educating the public on animal rights. 

Sometimes we get complaints from people who thinks it’s disgusting to put up photos or videos of how animals are killed for fur on social media. How should we get a balance on putting that information up?

This reminds me of the quote by Johnny Depp: "If you don't like seeing pictures of violence towards animals being posted, you need to help stop the violence, not the pictures." It is right sometimes to post graphic pictures. There is no choice as you need to show the truth to people, as this might make them react and have a change of heart. And some other times, we need to post less graphic pictures, so people can read the info. But not posting graphic pictures at all would be like hiding the truth. Everybody should be aware of The real and realistic definition of the word fur: “wearing or decorating oneself with animal corpses."

What can we do to help?

Animal rights people have to do their best to stop this horrific trade: By joining/organizing protests in your own cities/locations at stores selling fur; by setting up information stands/tables on the street; or by a more passive activism like networking, posting anti-fur messages and images on social media. Check out our website’s Materials section: a great tool for activism with many anti-fur posters to download and share.

  1. Refuse to buy products made of fur, including fur-trimmed coats, jackets and accessories.
  2. Write letters to your government representatives urging them to ban fur in your city/ State/ Country.
  3. Support the International Anti-Fur Coalition (IAFC) in its efforts to stop the fur industry, by helping to spread the word around the world, for obtaining justice for all living beings: Stand by them, fight for them!