Killing Animals for their Fur Breaks Hearts

**originally written 11/9/09. picture are linked to their original sources if you click on them.

Hi dears,

I have a few questions for you. 

To what extent is it fine for humans to take the lives of animals? For food? For clothing?

To what extent is it permissible for humans to subject animals to cruel treatment, in the processes of raising livestock, killing livestock for food, testing for cures to diseases, testing products, or hunting for fur? 

I have mainly shared with you the cruel treatment of animals in animal testing and experimentation, but today I would like to share about the cruelty involved in hunting animals for their fur.

Did you know rabbits, foxes, minks, raccoons, raccoon dogs, chinchillas, dogs, cats, and other animals are tortured and killed by the fur industry?

Is it okay to wear fur and promote the hunting of animals?  For example, these are fox fur hats from Michael Kors's 2009 line:

In a blog entry by PETA about Michael Kors's use of raccoon dogs, foxes, and other animals in his clothing lines. While he has agreed to stop using the fur of raccoon dogs, he turns his back on millions of other animals, including foxes (who are also members of the canine family) that are: "beaten, strangled, anally or genitally electrocuted and skinned alive for their fur." (source: http://blog.peta.org/archives/2007/05/push_michael_ko.php) 

No, that was not a typo.. I didn't know what raccoon dogs were either, until today. Raccoon dogs are not raccoons, but are part of the canid family, which includes dogs, wolves, and foxes. They are not aggressive animals, and are originally from east Asia and live on plains, mountain regions, and woodlands. Millions of these animals are hunted each year for its fur. (Source)

Now this... is a skinned raccoon dog that is still alive: 

Do you have any idea what happens to the animals that are killed for their fur? Martha Stewart talks about her change of heart when she found out about the cruelty involved. This video may be hard to watch, but please, at least listen to it.

What are your views after watching this video? If you were given the task to kill these animals, break their bones, electrocute them, confine them to the brink of insanity, would you do it? Another important question is, would you support the practice by purchasing fur or brands that engage in animal cruelty?

The following videos below are about the hunt of baby seals. Each year, hundreds and thousands of baby seals are cruelly slaughtered in Canada for fashion. 
 

"Each year, millions of foxes, minks, raccoons, chinchillas, rabbits, and other animals—including dogs and cats—are bludgeoned, strangled, drowned, and electrocuted so their fur can be made into so-called 'luxury items.' Many of these animals are even skinned alive for fashion." (Source: http://www.peta.org/FeatureKarinaSmirnoff.asp)

Please take a minute to sign this petition to help end the Canadian seal hunt. It's as simple as entering your name, email, and birthday- no spam mail involved, just uncheck the box if you do not wish to receive news from PETA.

This post will hopefully leave you to search within your conscience and your hearts. Killing animals for their fur is only a small portion of the animal cruelty that happens in the world. This makes me ashamed to be related (as a species) to these cold-blotted and greed-driven human beings. The cruelty mentioned in this post solely reflects the nature of fur-fashion industry, as opposed to killing out of the need for survival.

I would love to hear your views whatever they may be or whether you agree or disagree. You can leave comments below or in the chat box. :)

p.s. Today is Fur Free Friday for 2010, promoted by IDA (In Defense of Animals).

"In Defense of Animals is calling on all advocates with a responsibility to agitate and stand up on behalf of animals raised and killed for their fur. Their miserable lives and merciless deaths must end. On fur farms, foxes, mink, rabbits, and other species are kept in squalid, tiny cages where they go mad running back and forth, desperate to escape. Their efforts to get out are only realized at the end of their tortured lives, when these terrified and helpless animals are killed by such stunningly crude methods, including gassing, neck-breaking, and anal electrocution. In countries such as China, their skins are peeled from their bodies while they are still alive, writhing in pain. Wild animals trapped for fur fare no better. Steel-jaw leghold traps are painful and some of the captured are willing to chew off their limbs in order to escape. Snares are also used, leaving animals in unimaginable pain as the snare slowly cinches tighter. These helpless and tormented captives linger in these traps for days and sometimes weeks before trappers come to retrieve them."

source: http://www.furfreefridayida.org/