Fur Council Gets Gold Medal for Spin

by Stephanie Feldstein · 2010-02-08 17:45:00 UTC
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With the Winter Olympics kicking off this week, the Fur Council of Canada wants you to believe that Fur is Green.

We can find plenty of examples of shameless industry spin in the "Fur is Eco-logical" and "People & Cultures" sections of the web site, too, but since this is the Animals blog, we'll focus on a few of the "animal welfare" gems:

  • "Animal welfare is a top priority for the people working in the fur industry." (Where's the evidence?)

  • In reference to the sustainability of industry worldwide: "Absolutely no endangered species are used." (Tell that to species like the tigers in Asia, who have been slaughtered to near extinction, or to Neiman Marcus who advertised ocelot boots last year.)

  • Under "humane euthanasia," in reference to the carbon monoxide gas chambers that are used: "When harvest time comes around, a mobile unit is brought to the cages to eliminate stress that might be caused by transporting them long distances." (Staying in cramped cages to be slowly, painfully gassed really doesn't count as an elimination of stress.)

It's not surprising that the Fur Council of Canada is on the defensive. Animal advocates have been calling for a boycott of the Winter Olympic Games to draw attention to the cruel Canadian seal hunts, where hundreds of thousands of baby seals each year are clubbed and shot to death for their fur. The bottom is falling out under seal pelt prices, especially since the European Union banned the import of seal products last year, but the Canadian government continues to sanction the commercial hunts. Just last week, Humane Society International/Canada asked, "Is Baby Seal Bashing Canada's New Olympic Sport?"

The latest "news" on the Fur Council's site is titled "The Universal Declaration of the Ethical Harvest of Seals." But the real universal declaration — from organizations, individuals, and institutions around the world — is that the "harvest" of seals isn't ethical. But because the Olympics never seem to improve animal welfare in their host countries, Canada is likely to continue clubbing seals with the world watching.

Photo credit: wili_hybrid

 

Stephanie Feldstein is a Change.org Editor who has been part of the animal welfare and rescue community for over a decade, and most recently worked for an environmental organization.
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