Animal Rights

The picture is well known: A well-off older woman walking around with a beautiful, sleek coat that probably cost as much as a small house. Her friends all compliment her on the beautiful coat and she blows it off her shoulder with “This old thing?” Little does she know that 30-60 on average helpless animals were killed to make that coat. If you are thinking of purchasing a fur coat somewhere in the future, please read this before buying it. We’ll see if this changes your mind.

First of all, most of the animals killed to make the coats, stoles, or other fur-based clothing are caught in traps. They often suffer for days before finally being killed, where they will proceed to be skinned for one person’s coat. Now imagine how many fur coats there are in the world. Then imagine 30-60, sometimes even more, animals killed to make just one fur coat. Millions of animals are inhumanely killed every year just to make fur clothing. Now, is fur clothes really necessary? We have faux fur that we can use instead; why do we have to use innocent animals?

As I said earlier, animals are trapped so their fur can be used. 1 in 4 animals escape from these traps by chewing off their own feet, which eventually leads to them dying from gangrene, blood loss, fever, etc. Is it really worth it to lead animals to their death this way just so we can look good? On top of everything, traps are a huge hazard to other animals that we don’t use for fur. Every year, thousands of dogs, deer, cats, and other animals are accidently trapped in the “fur traps” and die. Sometimes, even bald eagles are killed in these traps. So, now we’re not only killing innocent animals for vanity, we’re also killing other animals along the way.

Ranch raised foxes are kept in 2.5 square foot cages with 4 animals per cage. That’s smaller than your average bathroom stall! We wouldn’t want to be treated this way, so why are we treating animals this way?

To keep from damaging the animal’s fur, trappers usually kill the animals by strangling, beating, or other ways I won’t mention. Now, these methods aren’t always 100% effective, and sometimes the animals “wake up” while being skinned. I’m really sorry this is so gruesome, but I’m trying to get it into your head that fur is an awful thing to wear. I really don’t think people will realize how awful it really is without knowing all the facts.

Certain animals, like leopards, sea otters, and some monkeys are faced by being added to the endangered list due to trapping. What do you think is more important, clothing and accessories, or the lives of animals? You decide. But I will never believe that we should use animals for our own vanity instead of letting them live freely.

-Hannah

thanks to:
www.furisdead.com
http://www.teenvoices.com/issue_current/archives/tvsf_animal_2.html