Imagine buying a child's toy or a piece of furniture, never realizing you are actually buying a product containing fur from a Chinese fur farm—fur that was once a terrified Arctic fox, held in a wire cage, abused, and eventually skinned alive.
Eighty-five percent of the world's fur comes from fur farms. China has become the world's largest exporter of fur, largely due to the country's absence of animal welfare protection and surplus of cheap labor.
Demand for fur from China, mostly from Europe and the United States, has grown in the last ten years—the result of heavy investment in marketing campaigns by a global fur industry aiming to make fur more socially acceptable. The fur industry has also developed a wider range for fur products in international commercial markets—products with smaller price tags and less obvious connections to the furry faces that have caused them so much trouble over the years.
The Investigation: What They Witnessed
The rapid growth in fur farming and lack of animal welfare regulation in China prompted Care for the Wild, EAST International and the Swiss Animal Protection (SAP) to collaborate on an investigation throughout 2004 and January of 2005. The investigation, Fun Fur? A Report on the Chinese Fur Industry, exposes the horrors inflicted on animals at Chinese fur farms.
Investigators for the Fun Fur? report obtained photos and video at fur farms throughout the Hebei province of Eastern China. Visited farms each held between 50 and 6,000 frightened and abused animals. Investigators documented Red foxes, Arctic foxes, raccoon dogs, minks, and rex rabbits manifesting pathological behaviors, high cub mortality rates and infanticide—symptoms of a lifetime of abuse. They tracked the animals as they were transported for sale under brutal conditions, and were skinned, often alive, adjacent to the wholesale markets where pelts are sold between the months of November and March.
China's lack of animal welfare standards allows millions of animals to live out their entire lives cramped in rows of tiny wire cages. These caged animals pace, nod, and circle their heads repeatedly in signs of extreme anxiety. Others, overwhelmed by the conditions, develop learned helplessness, huddling in their cages and demonstrating no signs of interest in the activity around them.
Before sale at markets, animals are removed from cages with metal tongs around their necks and carried by their hind legs for skinning and slaughter. Instead of killing the animals humanely, workers often stun them with repeated blows to the head using wooden clubs, or by swinging them by the hind legs and beating their heads on the ground.
Investigators witnessed a significant number of animals that were still alive when the skinning process began—starting with a knife at the rear of the belly and ending with the fur being pulled over the animal's head. After the skin was removed, investigators taped animals being thrown on a pile of other carcasses. These animals were still breathing, had a heartbeat, and continued moving and blinking for between five to ten minutes after their skin had been ripped from their bodies.
The success of fur industry campaigns and new manufacturing methods to make fur socially acceptable encourages the continued cruelty at Chinese fur farms and around the world. Fun Fur? reports that; "Many shoppers, who might flinch at buying a full-length fur coat, might still be seduced by a coat with a fur collar, a parka with fur trim around the hood, a scarf, or wrap, or a handbag with fur detail. &The animal connection may be less apparent with fur that has been shaved, knitted or dyed, or combined with other materials."
Shop Smarter
Some consumers may never suspect that they are buying fur. Items as inconspicuous as children's toys and furniture made with fur are turning up in stores. And these products are not always labeled. Each of these items—the trim on a coat, the lining of a glove or a child's toy—represents the cruelty in the life and death of an animal farmed for its fur.
Become an educated, active consumer and help end the suffering of animals on Chinese fur farms. Avoid any product with fur trim. Manufacturing techniques like dying often fool shoppers into thinking they are buying fake fur. Ask store managers if they know how their fur products are labeled and where the fur comes from. You can make them aware of the cruelty on Chinese fur farms and the blood trail behind the products they sell.
Take Action
Appeal to the source—let the Chinese government know that allowing the continued suffering of animals for fur is unacceptable in light of China’s international standing.
Write a letter to both the Chinese Minister of Commerce and the Chinese Ambassador to the United States. Express your concerns and urge them to recognize that the inhumane treatment of animals on Chinese fur farms shows a lack of understanding of acceptable animal husbandry techniques. As the largest exporter of fur, and the biggest fur trade production and processing country in the world, China has the opportunity to make an enormous, positive impact on the lives of millions of animals.
WARNING - Disturbing Images
In January 2005, Care for the Wild, EAST International and the Swiss Animal Protection released their wrenching findings from Fun Fur? A Report on the Chinese Fur Industry. The report and video investigators released show extremely graphic images that some people may find distressing.