FUR is back, and in a big way. Global retail sales of fur have risen each year for the past six years. In 1999 $9 billion of fur goods were traded in the world鈥檚 shops and markets; last year that figure stood at nearly $12 billion, and the trend shows few signs of changing course.
More consumers are wearing fur, and not just top-of-the-range full-length coats and over-the-top stoles. Fur is now a trendy, mass-marketed product used in everyday clothing, accessories and footwear. Head for the high street and you will see fur everywhere, from hats and handbags to shoes and scarves. A recent headline from Newsweek magazine advised, 鈥淔ur is fun again鈥�.
This is quite a turn. Think back to a decade ago, when wearing fur in public risked dirty looks if not a spraying of red paint. Newspapers ran anti-fur campaigns and supermodels declared that they would 鈥渞ather go naked than wear fur鈥�. So what has changed? Many things have contributed to the turnaround, but one of the most significant is a carefully thought out public relations campaign by the fur industry, represented by the International Fur Industry Federation, an umbrella group of national fur industry organisations in 29 countries.
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Realising it needed serious PR help to halt the tide of bad press, the federation has been going all out to win the hearts and minds of key audiences, including top-name designers, fashion students, retailers and of course, the buying public 鈥� particularly younger buyers. This age group is critical to the industry鈥檚 future, but also presents a hard challenge to the fur federation, for young people are among its strongest critics and are more likely to be influenced by negative media coverage, especially images of animals in distress.
So to win over the young, the fur industry has been trying to get the message across that it is cool and trendy to wear fur. Celebrities who apparently 鈥渆mbrace fur鈥� are paraded under the slogan 鈥淔amous Faces in Fur鈥�. They include the singer Beyonce, the actress Daryl Hannah and a bevy of supermodels. The fur federation has also forged alliances with the conservation movement. One alliance is with the World Conservation Union, the largest network of conservation organisations in the world.
The federation has also been taking on the science, occasionally commissioning its own reviews of the growing scientific literature on animal health and welfare, and making the findings public. Five years ago, the British federation commissioned the Institute of Economic Affairs, a free-market think tank based in the UK, to review the UK government鈥檚 proposed ban on fur farming. The institute鈥檚 report concluded that the proposed ban was 鈥渕orally and scientifically unjustified鈥�.
The industry is also quick to rebut any negative headlines, as in February when the UK charity Care for the Wild International, for which I work, published Fun Fur?, a report on animal welfare inside fur farms in north-east China. China is the world鈥檚 biggest exporter of fur clothing, and the largest centre for manufacturing and processing fur products. According to China鈥檚 own statistics, the country recorded close to $1 billion in imports and exports of fur products in 2003, over 40 per cent higher than the previous year. China鈥檚 fur farms are home to more than 1.5 million foxes and a similar number of raccoon dogs 鈥� an Asian fox-like canid 鈥� as well as mink, rabbits and other species.
鈥淎nimals were fully conscious while being skinned and remained so for up to 10 minutes鈥�
We surveyed eight farms near Beijing, plus two wholesale markets and a major slaughterhouse. We conducted open interviews with staff 鈥� this was not an undercover operation. On the farms we found animals in barren cages with a floor area averaging 0.6 square metres, 25 per cent smaller than the European Union鈥檚 recommended minimum. We also found animals exhibiting extreme fear and signs of self-mutilation. But of most concern was the way they were slaughtered. Animals were being stunned with a blunt object or swung by their hind legs head-first against the ground. Many animals were fully conscious while being skinned, and remained so for up to 10 minutes after all their skin had been removed.
When we brought this to the attention of the fur industry, the fur federation鈥檚 response was classic public relations. Rather than address the issues we had raised, it announced that the report 鈥渨ill not improve animal welfare鈥�. The China Fur Commission went further and claimed that our video evidence had been staged.
The fur industry says it is against animal cruelty, and the fact that consumers are buying fur again seems to suggest that the public believes it. What is clear is that the fur industry鈥檚 well-financed PR machine is keeping people ignorant of what really goes into the making of a fur coat 鈥� ignorant, in particular, of the fact that conditions on many Chinese fur farms make a mockery of the most elementary animal welfare standards, and that millions of animals are being denied the most simple acts of kindness. And all in the name of fashion.