Animals Used in Fashion

	Animals Used in Fashion Fur: The fur industry murders over 50 million animals every year in the United States alone. The majority of the animals are forced to spend their entire lives on fur farms, where every natural instinct is denied them. They often show telltale signs of insanity such as nervous pacing, self-mutilation and cannibalism. Animals trapped in the wild also suffer horribly. They sometimes attempt to chew off their own limbs to escape. Some bleed or starve to death before the trapper arrives, and others succumb to predators. Trappers often catch cats, dogs and other “non-target” animals as well. Unwanted, these animals are thrown away or let free with fatal injuries. For the animals who do survive until the trapper arrives, death is inevitable. Whether farmed or trapped, the fur industry kills animals using painful methods such as gassing, anal or vaginal electrocution, neck breaking, stomping, clubbing and drowning. To make one fur coat the following number of animals suffer and die:12-15 lynx, 10-15 wolves or coyotes, 15-20 foxes, 35 rabbit, 60-80 minks, 27-30 raccoons, 10-12 beavers, 60-100 squirrels, 200 chinchillas. Leather: Many people believe that leather is just a byproduct of the meat industry, but this is not the case. Much of the leather in athletic shoes, for example, comes from kangaroos, who are killed solely for their skin. Skin accounts for more than 55 percent of the total byproduct value of cattle. Thus, buying leather products augments the economic demand for slaughter. After pigs and cows have suffered from the crowding, confinement, mutilations, stressful transport, and frightening slaughter at the hands of the meat and dairy industries, their skins are made into shoes, boots, belts, gloves, and furniture covers. Horses, sheep, lambs, and goats are also slaughtered for their hides as well as for consumption. India is a major leather supplier to the world market. While being herded to slaughter in India, cows have hot chili peppers and tobacco rubbed into their eyes, and their tail bones are painfully twisted and broken in order to make them stand up and keep moving. Many animals used for leather in India are so sick and injured by the time they arrive at the slaughterhouse that they must be dragged inside. The Nov/Dec 1991 issue of the Vegetarian Journal has this to say about leather: “Environmentally, turning animal hides into leather is an energy intensive and polluting practice. Production of leather basically involves soaking (beamhouse), tanning, dyeing, drying, and finishing. Over 95 percent of all leather produced in the U.S. is chrome-tanned. The effluent that must be treated is primarily related to the beamhouse and tanning operations. The most difficult to treat is effluent from the tanning process. All wastes containing chromium are considered hazardous by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Many other pollutants involved in the processing of leather are associated with environmental and health risks. In terms of disposal, one would think that leather products would be biodegradable, but the primary function for a tanning agent is to stabilize the collagen or protein fibers so that they are no longer biodegradable.” Wool: Textile mills use nearly four times more imported than domestically produced wool. Much of it comes from Australia. With 118 million sheep, Australia is the world’s top wool producer and exporter. Within weeks of birth, lambs’ ears are hole-punched, and the males are castrated without anesthetic. Extremely high rates of mortality are considered normal on Australian wool farms: 20 to 40 percent of lambs die before the age of 8 weeks, and 8 million mature sheep die every year from disease, exposure, or neglect. Australian ranchers raise mostly Merino sheep, who are not native to Australia and therefore do not fare well in the harsh conditions. Merinos are bred to have extremely wrinkly skin (which allows for more wool). This unnatural overload of wool causes some animals to die of heat exhaustion in the summer. The wrinkles collect moisture, which attracts flies and results in maggot infestation known as “flystrike.” Maggots can literally eat sheep alive, so in order to reduce flystrike, ranchers perform a crude operation known as “mulesing.” Mulesing involves carving wide strips of skin from around the lambs’ tails to produce smooth scars that won't harbor fly larvae. Wool producers also perform tail docking (cutting off the sheep’s tails) in conjunction with mulesing to reduce feces and urine stains on the wool. Both mutilations are currently performed without the use of anesthestic. Ironically, because of the large bloody wounds caused by mulesing and tail docking, sheep often get flystrike before they heal. When sheep are no longer profitable for wool production, they are shipped to slaughter. They are exported in 14-tiered ships from Australia to the Middle East, a three- to six-week trip during which up to 18 percent of the animals die from the cramped and filthy conditions. Millions of sheep endure this transport, after which they are ritually slaughtered. Silk: Silkworms make their cocoons from a shiny fiber that they produce, and this is used to make silk. It is common practice to boil the moth larvae alive in order to obtain the silk, which produces longer silk threads than if the moth were allowed to emerge. Silkworms can certainly feel pain, and they recoil and writhe when injured and burned. Down: The process of live-plucking is widespread, as more feathers are produced per bird this way. The largest producers of down are China, Poland, and Hungary, where some 60 percent of down produced is live-plucked. “Rippers” lift the birds by their necks with their legs tied, and rip out all of their body feathers. The geese struggle to get away from this painful ordeal, sustaining injuries such as strained muscles and broken limbs. This torture, which has been described as “extremely cruel” by veterinary surgeons and even goose breeders, begins when the geese are only eight weeks old. It is then repeated at eight week intervals for two or three more sessions. The “lucky” birds are plucked dead, i.e. they are killed first and then plucked. The average lifespan of geese is 20 years, however geese used by the down industry live only 4-5 years. Alternatives To…: Synthetic alternatives are easy to find and are often clearly labeled in mainstream stores. You don’t have to go to specialty shops for many animal-free products. Fur: Read labels to weed out cruel products. Cruelty-free faux furs made of plush modern synthetics are becoming easier and easier to find. Leather: Look for words such as “manmade leather,” “all-manmade materials,” “pleather,” and “synthetic”, under shoe tongues, on tags, and on the insides of belts and bags. These cost a fraction of what leather products cost. Wool: Look for snuggly warm synthetic fabrics, such as polyester fleece, acrylic, and cotton flannel. They wash easily, keep their bright colors, and cost less. Tencel, a natural fabric made from wood pulp, is a breathable, durable, and biodegradable alternative to wool. Silk: Find humane alternatives to silk ties and other silk items, including such fabrics as nylon, polyester, rayon, Tencel, milkweed seed pod fibers, and even silk-cotton tree and ceiba tree filaments, for a fraction of the price. Down: Synthetic fillers such as Primaloft® and Thinsulate™ retain their insulating capabilities in all weather. More Alternative Materials: Bamboo: A very sustainable source of fiber; it will grow over 3 feet overnight with little water and no pesticides. It can take in 5 times as much greenhouse gases while producing 35% more oxygen than trees. On top of this, bamboo fiber is soft, strong, comfortable, and anti-bacterial. It will keep you cooler in hot weather, and nice and cozy in colder weather. Hemp: In addition to being comfortable, it has superior strength and durability, resistance to ultraviolet light and mold, and good absorbency. Secondhand stores and thrift shops are excellent places to find animal-free clothes, reduce your environmental footprint, and stay within your budget. Sources: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, World Society for the Protection of Animals For more information on how you can help abused animals, please visit: www.livevegan.org
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