Why fur still matters.

[riverdeep]

PETA is a controversial organization. Do they go too far sometimes and turn off potential allies, sure they do. However, they are often on the front lines of animal welfare battles. Especially in showing the unvarnished reality that most mainstream entities and news outlets are unwilling to touch. To that end, undercover investigators from Swiss Animal Protection/EAST International toured fur farms in China, where it's estimated half of America's fur comes from. They found conditions and treatment so horrible it boggles the mind.

The animals, foxes, minks, rabbits and others, are kept in small cages until they are insane, pacing incessantly, gnawing on their own limbs, outdoors in all conditions, until that day of slaughter. Slaughter is brutal. They're beaten on pavement or with implements. Many do not die immediately. They are then skinned alive, fighting and struggling as much as they can. Tossed with their skin ripped off onto a heap of others, they cling to life and wait for the only release allowed them in their entire existence. Please, if you or someone you know is thinking that the fur bruhaha was overblown or is over, you need to know it isn't.

EXTREMELY graphic video of life on a Chinese fur farm. I repeat, extremely graphic.

http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/video.asp?video=fur_farm&Player=wm

More info on this investigation.

http://www.furisdead.com/feat/ChineseFurFarms/

It probably shouldn't be a surprise considering the way humans are treated there, or their lax procedures for manufacturing that caused so much disturbance in our pet foods and children's toys, among other items, but it's still shocking when it's living, breathing creatures.

[Lorien]

1. Many of the animals killed for fur are no less intelligent, feeling and

emotional than any of our household pets. I've gotten to know some of my backyard raccoons over the years and have been amazed by their intelligent and extremely emotional natures. I even knew one mother raccoon who lost her entire litter of cubs one year and nearly died of starvation from what appeared to be grief (she would actually come and sit with me on the porch ever night with one paw on my foot.She looked perfectly healthy, but her expression was very sad).

I can't wrap my mind around the cruelty of fur farming. I find fur vile in the extreme; after all, we women spend a lot of money keep hair OFF of our bodies. So why on earth would anyone want to dress like a yeti?? That kind of selfish vanity comes with a hefty dose of bad karma. If you want something warm, then L.L. Bean has loads of fur free alternatives that do the job better and at a fraction of the cost.

[pansypoo53219]

2. oh god.

china does fur? oh lordy. i don't WANT TO KNOW! i don't even want to imagine.

[Peggy Day]

3. I'm sorry, I can usually watch a lot, but I can't stand to watch

helpless animals. So, even though I sympathize with the cause already, I won't be watching the video.
I even get very upset at road kill.
Sometimes I'm glad I don't live forever!

[anniebelle]

10. I have worked for animal rights groups from the age of 8.

It is such a depressing thought how our animals are at our mercy, so we, as animal lovers, must look at the disgusting pictures and make sure others get to see them. Americans need a visual to stimulate their thought processes. The more we see people on their roof tops in the Gulf Region, women and children being killed and maimed daily in Iraq, fires ravaging the West Coast, the more we are likely to take action. We have to have the mind-numbing images seared into our thoughts or we will go back to our t.v.'s and car races, martinis, church, football games -- whatever will get us away from all this 'ugly' stuff. So, I suck it up every day and go down to my local animal shelter and walk dogs, pet cats, take blankets, food, toys, hopefully, an optimistic attitude. I am disabled and retired, so I can't afford to give much in the way of cash, but as long as there is a PETA, HSUS, ASPCA, etc., there's hope for our little furry friends.

[gateley]

4. I had to remove myself from PETA's e-mail list because the photos disturbed

me too much.

It was a PETA commercial that made me realize the truth behind the glam.

[riverdeep]

6. I don't blame you.

I can't stand watching either. I struggled with posting this, because this whole topic is a huge 'downer'. With all that's going on, who needs to see more suffering? But, I watched it because I felt I had to at least bear witness. It's all I can do for those that lived in that hell. And are living still.

How can someone do that day in and day out, and think it's normal? I don't buy the cultural relativism theory, you have kill some part of your own humanity to do that.

[MonkeyFunk]

5. I fervently wish there were an agency

less insane than PETA to address this issue.

[baseballhead]

7. Exactly

I believe in the ethical treatment of animals but they have turned off a lot of people. I prefer to donate to local pet charities.

[and-justice-for-all]

8. It makes me very upset to read those words...

It hurts alot really and I can not bare to watch that stuff, I find it very disturbing. I have 3 Cats that I love like family and I am glad I am able to protect them from such a Holocaust as the fur trade and Labratory imprisonment.

[Az]

9. Here's an idea

If a product is manufactured outside our country and it does not meet the same manufacturing codes as within the US we ban its import or tariff the shit out of it.

[Solly Mack]

11. I have chinchillas and they are smart and funny

My oldest male plays keep away with me. He'll get hold of something he's not supposed to have and switches it out between his little hands while I attempt to get it back from him.

I just laugh. They are so tiny and so fragile you have to be really careful with them.

Their fur, which belongs to them and only to them, is so soft..so comforting to touch..and when they allow me to rub their tummy I am thrilled because it is a gift - a sign of trust and affection.

A coat can't give you that.

I will not watch the videos. I can't.