RSPCA: Don’t let an animal sneak into your wardrobe
Don’t let an animal sneak into your wardrobe Retailers urged to wake up to real fur and end consumer confusion
A new anti-fur campaign called 100% Fake is being launched after an RSPCA investigation found two High Street chains selling unlabelled or mislabelled fur.
A mystery shopper bought a coat with trim made from real fur from a branch of the retailer TK Maxx which has a no-fur policy. The label stated the coat to be made of polyester and nylon but made no mention of fur. Laboratory analysis identified the trim as Arctic fox.
A pair of gloves with real fur trim was bought from an Edinburgh Woollen Mill store. The label claimed the cuff to be made of acrylic, but laboratory analysis identified the material as rabbit fur.
David Bowles, the RSPCA’s head of external affairs, said: “We believe that real fur is mistakenly being widely sold in the UK. An RSPCA survey showed that 93% of people would not wear real fur*, but a lot of shoppers are accidentally buying real fur assuming that it’s fake because it is cheap and not clearly labelled.”
As a result of the RSPCA’s investigation, TK Maxx said it was “committed to enforcing rigorous processes to ensure real fur product does not enter our business.” The Edinburgh Woollen Mill has now pledged to stop selling fur by next Spring. (See below for quotes from retailers.)
The RSPCA is opposed to the fur industry which unnecessarily kills 55 million animals a year. The Society is calling for:
· shoppers to check all fur-like products and not buy them unless they are sure it doesn’t contain any real fur · retailers not to sell real fur and to carry out more stringent checks on the products they sell.
The launch of the new campaign coincides with this year’s The Clothes Show Live** at which the RSPCA will promote its 100% Fake campaign.
Mr Bowles added: “Many shoppers are quite rightly sickened by the thought of wearing the fur of an animal which has suffered just to produce a ‘fashionable’ piece of clothing. It is not possible to farm humanely an animal for its fur and excellent artificial fur is available. The way in which animals such as Arctic fox are farmed is horrific.
“We are calling on shoppers not to be fooled by fur. Our message is: ‘If you’re not sure it’s 100% fake, don’t buy it’. Shoppers should check to see whether the fur looks real – even if the label claims the fur to be fake or no mention of fur is made on the label.”
There is no clear legal requirement for retailers to positively label fur as long as any labelling that does appear is not “misleading”.
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Notes to editors:
* A TNS opinion poll was conducted in Great Britain via PhoneBus, a telephone Omnibus survey. A representative sample of 2,037 adults aged from 16 and above were interviewed between 26 January 2007 and 4 February 2007.
** Between 7 December and 12 December 2007 at the Birmingham NEC
For more information visit www.rspca.org.uk/fur
Pictures – including the garments purchased by our mystery shoppers – are available by contacting the Press Office on 0300 123 0244.
The retailers caught selling fur:
An RSPCA mystery shopper bought a selection of items which resembled fur from randomly-selected High Street shops over the course of about an hour. The articles of clothing were tested using Specific Identification of Animals by MALDIToF Mass Spectrometry (Siam). For more information visit www.spectroscopyeurope.com/MS_19_2.pdf
TK Maxx:
A DKNY coat suspected of having a real fur collar was purchased from TK Maxx in Horsham in December 2006.
In response to a letter from the RSPCA, the company wrote: “TK Maxx is proud to have implemented a long-standing policy with regard to not buying real fur product. It was therefore with great surprise and regret we learned a coat with real fur trim was found in one of our stores. TK Maxx buys a huge range of product from thousands of suppliers so we are committed to enforcing rigorous processes to ensure real fur product does not enter our business.”
The Edinburgh Woollen Mill:
A pair of black leather gloves suspected of having real fur trim was purchased from a store in Horsham in December 2006.
In response to a letter from the RSPCA, the company wrote: “The current position is that there is only one style of gloves in the EWM range which has any fur content. This is rabbit trim where we have written assurances from our supplier that it originates from the food trade. It is our clear stated intention to have no fur in the EWM ranges from Spring 2008.”
The suffering of animals farmed for fur:
The RSPCA is opposed to the farming and trapping of animals for their fur. Husbandry and slaughter methods used on fur farms can cause considerable suffering to the animals involved.
Eighty-five per cent of fur originates from farms, with the most commonly bred animals being mink and fox with other species including chinchilla, raccoon dog, polecat, ferret, and coypu.
These wild animals are often confined to tiny, barren cages, or sheds containing many thousands of animals, which deny them the freedom to pursue their biological and behavioural needs.
A report about Chinese fur farms showed that a significant number of animals remain fully conscious during the process of removing the fur.
Common fur-farm slaughter methods include electrocution, where electrodes are clamped in the animal’s mouth and inserted into the rectum, neck snapping, gassing, and lethal injection – all methods that keep the pelts intact.
TIPS FOR CONSUMERS – How to check whether an item of clothing contains real fur
- Don’t be fooled by fur! Just because an item of clothing is not labelled as fur doesn’t mean it’s fake.
- Check the label but even if it claims not to contain real fur, try to check that anything which resembles fur is not real. Some fur items are labelled with the species of animal the fur has been taken from but the labelling on other garments can be either misleading, in another language or missing altogether, making it hard for consumers to know whether the fur – especially on trims and accessories – is fake or real.
- It is sometimes possible to tell the difference between real and fake fur by gently separating the hairs. If skin or leather can be seen between the hairs at the base, then the item is real. If a weave or material can be seen at base of the hairs, then the fur is fake.
- Fur can be dyed many colours from bright pink to black. Never assume that just because it doesn’t have a natural look that it is “faux”.
- Our research has revealed that real fur items can be purchased for as little as £20 – and not just from designer boutiques, they are on the High Street and street markets too.
- Most importantly, don’t unwittingly buy real fur by mistake. If you are not 100% certain that it is fake, please don’t buy it!
- There are many humanely produced alternative materials available instead of fur and the RSPCA urges all fashion houses, designers and retailers to shun real fur. We also call on consumers to never buy real fur and to support retailers with a fur-free policy.
RSPCA, Wilberforce Way, Southwater, Horsham, West Sussex RH13 9RS Press office direct lines: 0300 123 0244/0288 Fax: 0303 123 0099 Duty press officer (evenings and weekends) Tel 0870 0555500 and ask for pager number 828825
Email: press@rspca.org.uk Website: www.rspca.org.uk
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