Fur Farm Cruelty ----- What You Shopaholics Should Know

I remember twelve years ago, when I was only fourteen years old, I went on a little outing with my family to San Francisco. We walked around the great city, exploring and shopping at all the many stores. We stopped in front of Neiman Marcus, where there was a small protest group outside the door. A man was handing out brochures to people walking past the store, and shouting "Neiman Marcus supports the electrocution of animals for fur! Don't buy fur!" I was horrified when I heard this, as well as the rest of my family. I curiously took a brochure, and on the front cover of the brochure, I was even more horrified to see a picture of a fox laying on its side in the middle of a forest with its paws secured in a trap which looked like it was gouged right through its skin. And on top of its poor neck was a huge brown boot. Clearly, a trapper was stomping this poor creature's neck to kill it. I turned the page and saw another heartbreaking photo of a beautiful cat caught in the same kind of trap, and its paws were bleeding badly. The caption underneath the photo read: "This cat, exposed to the ailments, desperately chews through its paws to escape the trap. A trapper will come and stomp or club it to death." I had no idea that society could possibly let something like this happen, and that disturbing information has inspired me to be "anti-fur" for the rest of my life. I love and respect animals very much, as my hub followers can plainly see. I hope that you can stomach the rest of what everyone should know about what goes on at an actual fur farm, a place where animals are crudely raised and killed for the sole purpose of selling their beautiful fur. Foxes and mink are popular fur targets. On a fur farm, animals are crammed in tiny cages, and fur farmers sometimes stuff as many animals as they can into these cages, so they won't have to spend money on extra cages. This means, of course, that the animals have no room to even take a few steps or turn around in their tiny prison. The cages become filfthy with feces and urine. The ammonia from the urine makes it difficult for the animals to breathe. They are given water through rubber "nipples," which are attached to their cages. The water in these nipples freezes in the winter, making it difficult for the animals to drink. Haven't you ever pondered the thought of how that soft, pretty fur got on your coat? I admit that I, too, was ignorant of fur farm cruelty until that day in front of Neiman Marcus in San Francisco.

My disgust and outrage towards what I read on that brochure lead me to dig deeper into the truth about fur farms. What I discovered is that foxes are killed on fur farms when they are only seven months old, while the lifespan of a fox is up to five years. When it's time for them to die for human vanity, they are killed by either being skinned alive with no anesthesia, electrocution with prods forced into their mouth and anus, or by gassing. Mind you, the animals are completely awake, alert, and conscious while all this occurs. Sadly, all of this is legal...until we make an effort to speak out against fur farms, and one simple way to do this is to avoid buying fur. If you absolutely can't resist buying any article of clothing with anything on it that resembles fur, check the tag for the label "faux fur," which indicates that the fur isn't real. If there is no tag, you can simply feel the fur to determine instinctively whether or not it is real. Faux fur tends to be slightly fluffier than actual fur, with more of a coarse texture, while real fur is smooth, fine, and has a slight shine to it. Another obvious way to determine whether or not the fur is real is the price of the product. If you feel that it's pretty pricey, then chances are, the fur is real. Listen to your intuition. Fur farms cannot be supported or continued if no store will buy their fur, due to the lack of profit they will make if customers refuse to buy it, not to mention the controversy and protest groups it will bring to their business, giving them a bad name.

Being self-indulgent and a lush isn't a crime, but it's possible to be that way without harming animals. Go crazy when you shop, but don't buy fur! There are millions of ways to look fancy and trendy without wearing fur. Correct this human error. Cruelty isn't cool or stylish.