Talking about fur...

[AprilBaby]

Does it bother you to see someone wearing it? Can you tell real from fake? I have three lovely fakes and they are the warmest coats I own. I would LOVE the real thing but it's seems so dressy. What would you wear it with?

 

[Dee*Jay]

I own five real furs. Yes, I can tell real from fake. I wear mine with everything and for any occasion, including walking the dogs. I even have one that makes me truly look like The Demon's momma (sans tail and white ruff).

Please forgive the abbreviated response (I'm on my phone) but I'll revisit this thread later (at which time I'm guessing it will have become heated to some degree).

 

[Maisie]

I'm a member of another forum and there is a really long thread about fur coats. It seems like it might be more acceptable to wear fur these days. I know it used to be really frowned on and you were a risk of being covered in red paint if you went outside wearing a real fur coat. Has something changed recently? I don't know anyone who owns a fur coat. Maybe it's not so common where I live and I'm in the minority.

 

[dk168]

I can tell real from fake, and have never been bothered about peeps wearing furs.

Got a silver fox coat myself, bought for me by my mum in the 1980's while we were holidaying in Italy. I might have worn it once before consigning into a wardrobe/suitcase.

DK

 

[packrat]

I grew up w/a dad who trapped animals for their fur, and my husband does it too, so nope, no problems here. I don't have a fur coat, which every year we talk about, and then never do anything about. What I want is a soft sueded deer hide, insulated, with sheared beaver trim, or we talked about coyote or fox too. All will be from animals he's caught..just need to find a place to make it.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

In December while paying for petrol, I was verbally harassed--at length--by a young man as he took great offense to my wearing an old fur coat in -37 temps. It was unnerving. A couple of years ago, a clerk in a store refused me service while wearing a fur coat in the same deep freeze temps.

It happens.

cheers--Sharon

 

[justginger]

As someone who invests a lot of time, money, effort, and emotion into caring for needy domestic animals, and 18 months ago stopped eating all red meat due to horror 'alive while being quartered" abattoir stories - no, I do not own fur. No, I would not own fur. No, it doesn't make my stomach feel nice imagining the brutal ends by which fur coats are created. And no, I can't tell the difference between real and fake. Plus these days, according to some pretty solid research, a lot of the 'fake' fur coming out of China has been made from the pelts of street dogs via their meat trade. It's cheaper for them to use that source than create synthetics.

I avoid anything but the fur my pets naturally deposit on my existing clothes.

 

[baby monster]

Full fur coats are too dressy for me but I love coats trimmed with fur. Fur is great next to face and neck. I can usually tell the difference between real and fake. I've been seeing less fur for past few winters but this year fur is out in full force because of the colder winter.

 

[movie zombie]

I'm with justginger: the only fur I want to wear is that from my beloved kitties.

 

[Deactivated member 42515]

As someone who invests a lot of time, money, effort, and emotion into caring for needy domestic animals, and 18 months ago stopped eating all red meat due to horror 'alive while being quartered" abattoir stories - no, I do not own fur. No, I would not own fur. No, it doesn't make my stomach feel nice imagining the brutal ends by which fur coats are created. And no, I can't tell the difference between real and fake. Plus these days, according to some pretty solid research, a lot of the 'fake' fur coming out of China has been made from the pelts of street dogs via their meat trade. It's cheaper for them to use that source than create synthetics.

I avoid anything but the fur my pets naturally deposit on my existing clothes.

I agree with you 110%. There's no need to kill animals just so we can wear their fur. We have evolved. We have plenty of other ways to keep warm.

The fake fur thing is real too. The Chinese take stray animals off the street and skin then and sell them as meat or "fake" fur.

I personally take it upon myself not to eat meat or wear fur. My dogs mean the world to me and if I'm not going to eat them, there's no reason I need to eat other animals or use their other body parts to live a life of "luxury"

 

[lulu]

100% with justginger on this. It's easy to find online examples of animals mutilated for their fur, but I won't post any.But, if you're willing to wear the stuff you should be willing to view the results.

 

[woofmama]

Count me in the opposed to wearing fur camp. I have seen horrific pictures and a documentary on how the animals are killed and it is heartless. I do have a fake from Burlington Coat Factory, and it's absolutely synthetic. I feel very self conscious wearing it just because I'm afraid people might think it's real. Due to being a small business owner I run into people all over town who I know from my biz. They are animal lovers who are involved in rescue, as am I, so I would hate for them to think I was wearing a real fur. I regret buying that coat and will most likely donate it.
I did have a real rabbit fur coat when I was a teenager, we all had them, it was a fashion trend in the late 1970's. Everyone also had a rabbit foot keychain, it was marketed as being good luck.
I'm not a vegetarian and will wear leather coats, shoes, purses.

 

[monarch64]

Does it bother me to see people wear it? Um. I will admit to forming certain opinions about people when I see it (nothing very awful or all that specific), but it doesn't BOTHER me like send me into some sort of upset, or anything.

I don't eat meat, I no longer buy leather, I don't wear fur, I try my best to live my life without cruelty. I'm not perfect, and I don't expect others to be. I don't see the point in berating someone for their choices in life. If someone asks me about my lifestyle I am happy to discuss and answer questions, but I don't make remarks on how others choose to live.

I will say that I think Packrat brought up a good point. If the majority of people who buy furs had to actually trap the animals, kill the animals, let them bleed out, skin the animals, and then construct a garment from their pelts, I would guess there would be far fewer fur wearers in the world.

 

[packrat]

Just wanted to make a note that not every animal that is killed for its fur is killed in an inhumane way. Just like those that hunt. TRUE hunters/trappers/fisherman etc, are very passionate about the animals. They can tell you how they live, where they live, why they do the things they do, what they eat, follow tracks, tell how healthy an animal is at a glance, all kinds of things. Animals are cute and fluffy--Mother Nature is not. That's a fact. When there are too many of an animal in a place, they get sick. Not like we get sick, a cold, cough cough sniffle I'm all stuffed up. They get mange and distemper. And they die. But they don't die fast, and they don't die painlessly. Mange and distemper spread like wildfire, too. Big pus-y sores, skin black from exposure b/c their hair is almost all gone. We've had distemper go thru our cats on the acreage many times, and wiped out the entire clowder (Thanks Sheldon), and that was w/vet visits and medicine, and doing what we could to help them. Imagine that disease unchecked running thru a den of raccoons in the wild. I would rather a raccoon sitting in a snare get a shot to the forehead, than a raccoon w/distemper dying a slow and unpleasant death, spreading its infection to other raccoons to die the same way. I would rather a coyote in a snare get a shot to the forehead, than be covered in nasty open sores, taking days and days to suffer before dying in the cold. We raise a ruckus about dogs and cats outside during the cold--imagine being a coyote w/no fur w/open wounds. And that animal will spread its sickness fast. Even after death, if another coyote comes upon it, it could catch it. And that sick coyote goes around looking for dens to hole up in..and when it leaves, the healthy coyote that comes in after it, will catch it. It perpetuates.

We have very few fox here. In fact, I've seen one out in the wild, since I was about 8 or 10 years old. Because there are so many coyotes, they are decimating the fox population. One species can not run unchecked. Once the fox are gone, then the pheasants, of which I used to see at least one every time we went for a drive. Now, I bet I see one maybe once a year.

It's called Wildlife Management. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_management

 

[lyra]

I'm old. I grew up in a family of hunters, in a northern community in Canada. We had all kinds of different fur items that I wore growing up. I know real fur, and luxurious real fur. I won't wear it now though. I had a fur coat in my teens and when I showed it to my 2 girlfriends for the first time, they pretty much both turned green. I didn't understand why. They hadn't grown up like me. That was all it took for me to start seeing the issue from someone else's point of view. I'm not totally innocent. I wear leather shoes and have a leather coat. I have such a great love of animals, that the thought of wearing one now really turns me off. Yet I grew up with women who wore fox stoles, minks, all the nice stuff. Back when you stored your furs for the summer at a special climate controlled place. I've seen it all. My kids won't even wear the fakest of fur anything. They didn't grow up like I did either.

 

[Gypsy]

I inherited a bunch of furs. Nice ones-- a gorgeous Persian Lamb among them. I've never been able to wear them.

I tried on tje most gorgeous Beaver coat at Neiman Marcus one year. Even that filled me with guilt.

I eat meat, and wear leather. But fur, I can't do. I understand others can, and that's their decision. I don't discriminate or judge others for their choices, but for me personally, I can't wear it.

 

[AprilBaby]

No way I'm giving up my leather coat, shoes and purses. And my fake fur is the warmest thing I own. The first clothes man ever wore were animal skins. ( that is after the leaves)

 

[innerkitten]

I'm with justginger: the only fur I want to wear is that from my beloved kitties.

Me too.

 

[Deactivated member 42515]

No way I'm giving up my leather coat, shoes and purses. And my fake fur is the warmest thing I own. The first clothes man ever wore were animal skins. ( that is after the leaves)

That was when they had to survive and they would kill an animal and use every single part of it and waste none. We now use it for luxury. So basically, we are now mass murdering innocent animals, ripping off their skin and wearing them around. Not because we need them to survive, but because we think it looks nice.

 

[Circe]

I'll wear vintage fur pieces for the same reason that I'll buy vintage diamonds ... When they're older than I am, the processes that produced them are far enough in the past that it's probably worse on an environmental and ethical level to purchase their synthetic counterparts. But whereas I'll buy new diamonds because I have faith in the precautions we take on an industry-wide level, I won't buy modern furs because insofar as I'm aware, there aren't any.

That said, I do buy new leather shoes, etc. I'm carnivorous, I believe in consuming all portions of prey animals, and I have yet to see the synthetic material that is as long-wearing.

 

[movie zombie]

we all enjoy/have something that others would prefer we didn't.

 

[missy]

I eat fish and wear leather but I just cannot wear fur. I try not to judge those that do but in my mind it's just not right. In an ideal world I would like to go back to being a vegan and wearing no leather and eating no fish but we all do what is right for us at the time and make our own peace with it. But there is no way I will ever feel it is OK to kill animals for their fur. We are not living in the days where that is needed for survival anymore. As intelligent empathetic beings haven't we evolved more than that?

Mahatma Gandhi — 'The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.'

 

[partgypsy]

When I was a kid my grandmother had a fur stole and also many women going to my church wore fur and I thought it looked very glamorous. I have a picture as a little girl where my sister and I are wearing matching fake fur coats.
But once I got older and learned more about it I just can't justify wearing fur from animals killed just for their skin. So when I see people wearing fur, it turns my stomach and I find it unattractive and also have a lower view of the wearer. I have also read the reports that things labeled as fake fur turned out to be dog, cat, and a certain animal that is becoming endangered in China.

I'm not some extremist. I eat meat and still wear leather shoes. But at this time and place fur coats seem wasteful, unnecessary, and cruel.

 

[LaraOnline]

As a farming girl I can comfortably say that the transport in trucks and the abattoirs at the end of a meat animal's last journey are very cruel. The abattoirs themselves could be a lot less cruel, there is technology and research available that would cut out much of that.
But because the cost of installing these new systems is so high, these changes have not been made.
What gives meat eaters the right to criticize a fur wearer? It could be argued that a meat eater would consume more animals in a year than a fur wearer may consume in even a lifetime.
If fingers are to be pointed, that is. Personally, I don't think people should be shamed into giving up meat altogether even though we all know it's cruel. The more realistic solution is to find cruelty free ways of farming animals.

 

[missy]

We all have to decide what is right for us and what we can live with. For those interested:
http://www.prevention.com/food/healthy-eating-tips/animal-cruelty-and-food?cm_mmc=Spotlight-_-1563376-_-01122014-_-8-cruelest-foods-you-eat-hed

 

[isaku5]

Okay, I admit to having worn two fur coats- The first was a black mink. I loved it and wore it many times. Its one downfall was that it was heavy - especially to carry.

I thought I looked pretty spiffy like all the fur-wearing ladies in Toronto

I eventually sold it and salivated over exceptionally beautiful lynx coats. I had tried many on and they were as light as a feather.

We found an exceptional upscale fur vendor and tried on several of his samples, none of which were the right fit for my taste. It was December and there was a gentleman's only night at this store. Just before they get rid of the ladies, we were shown the #1 Canadian pelts for far too much money (but they were head and shoulders above any other coats we had seen- except the Russian lynx pelts)

DH stayed at the store to participate in the 'draw' for the #1 Canadian pelts. He received a discount of 25%. I was ecstatic; he was alarmed. While I scrimped and saved for those beauties, they were stored in their own facility. Finally, the wait was over and I had a custom made coat that was beyond gorgeous. I wore it with pride treating it like a precious piece of jewellery. There are rules for this too. I had the whole ensemble - leather boots, perfect gloves and purse, and even a gorgeous hat. That was in the 80's. Life was good.

Fast forward to the present day, where we now have PETA and other groups who abhor anyone wearing real fur. I was afraid that red paint would soon adorn my beauty so have had it in cold storage ever since. I'm sure I've paid half the price of the coat in storage fees.

I've tried to sell it, but that was futile - everyone wanted a 'deal'.

Since I've been diagnosed with breast cancer, I've been wanting to take it out of storage and use it as a throw, but DH keeps telling me not to. Is he in denial? I'm not sure, but I'd feel better cosying up to my beautiful fur than just an ordinary blanket.

 

[Deactivated member 42515]

Too bad PETA is now one of the #1 murderer of animals. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't secretly supply the fur.

 

[lulu]

YT- do you have a link for this information about Peta?

 

[Matata]

YT- do you have a link for this information about Peta?

This is but one piece of info http://www.petakillsanimals.com/takeaction?utm_campaign=CCF%2520Daily%2520Post&utm_medium=Email%2520Newsletter&utm_content=&utm_source=MW

If you are interested in animal welfare, PETA and HSUS are two organizations that you should not support.

 

[Matata]

More about PETA and HSUS http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=6510.. Also see Humanewatch.org I'll stop now because this is not the subject of this thread but I think it is important information to consider if you care about animals.