Dialogue: Fur fashion vanity means extensive cruelty to animals

By GARY REESE*

Acknowledging the rights of animals is no longer the extreme ethic that Louisa Herd painted in her Dialogue piece. Increasingly it is those who support cruelty to animals to increase profits who are seen as extremists.

An independent opinion poll found that 81 per cent of women believe it is wrong to kill animals for their fur. The promoters of fur fashion are in the minority.

Ms Herd says there is no difference between fur and leather. Apart from the fact that fur is much more of a luxury item than leather, there are other significant differences.

Fur farms are always intensive and inhumane. Fur-bearing animals are crammed into small wire cages for their whole lives. The torment to animals such as foxes and mink is enormous. Most suffer stereotypic behaviour, such as constant pacing, chewing of cage bars and self-mutilation. This life, if you can call it that, is finished by electrocution, gassing or having their necks broken so as not to damage the pelt.

More than 400,000 New Zealanders have signed petitions against factory farming of pigs and chickens. Fur farms have relatively similar-sized cages. The cage size is exacerbated by the fact that most fur animals roam large areas in their natural state.

Ms Herd asked if Russian fur farms were any worse than bobby-calf farming. Russian farms have appallingly cruel conditions. Some even butcher endangered whales and walruses to feed intensively farmed foxes.

About half the fur used worldwide is from these intensive farms. Trapping and snaring also remain widespread. Cruel gin traps are still used overseas (and in New Zealand for pest control). Trapping results in animals suffering hours of excruciating pain from starvation, lacerations, broken bones and the like.

Ms Herd seems to be suggesting that the bobby-calf industry is cruel, but does not explain why. However, the workings of this industry are surprisingly unknown. The obvious needs to be stated. To produce milk, dairy cows are kept constantly pregnant; the by-product is 2.6 million calves.

Of course, it would be inefficient for the industry to allow the calves to compete for their mother's milk. So most male (bobby) calves are separated from their mothers within 24 to 48 hours and slaughtered as soon as possible, mostly for veal meat and their skin. Their short lives of four to 10 days are usually spent in paddocks, although some are in sheds.

While bobby-calf farming is less cruel than fur farming, taking calves from mothers within 48 hours of their birth makes some have second thoughts about their milk and leather.

Ms Herd suggests that the movement against the fur trade is the reason possums are running rampant. Possums were introduced in 1837 and became out of control long before the fashion-fur industry went into decline 15 years ago. Yes, possums were introduced for fur but it was a bad idea then and still is.

Fur is about fashion. The opposition to fur is about killing animals for vanity. That cosy fur coat Ms Herd refers to can take up to 200 chinchilla, 65 mink or 24 foxes to make.

Most people are against fur because of our traditional value of killing animals only when it's necessary, not for luxury items. While this more compassionate relationship to animals is under attack by profit-driven industries, such ethics are an important part of our humanity.

A very disconcerting attitude has been created through the Department of Conservation's campaign against possums. New Zealanders hate possums. They don't hate the problem of over-population of this species, they hate the furry animal that is a lovable and protected species in Australia.

The Royal Forest and Bird Society even opposed animal welfare legislation that would discourage people from running them over on the roads. This animal has been so vilified that it has now taken on some sort of evil persona.

Of course there is a population problem, but making them into a killing sport on the roads or in the bush is not the answer. Modern, more humane methods of controlling their population through biological controls, such as sterilisation, will soon be available.

Even the Department of Conservation is against bounties on possums. Experience shows that the impact on population levels would be almost zero because only easy possums would be taken.

A possum-fur industry would lead to more inhumane trapping because shooting isn't really an option for fur pelts. The possibility of factory farming possums to uphold a weakening industry would be high when numbers diminish through other methods.

A possum-fur industry is unsustainable. The focus should be kept on the problem of over-population, not on the animal.

* Gary Reese is campaign director for Save Animals from Exploitation (Safe).