Art of the Steal

Check out Sharon Stone’s fur fashion choice. I reckon she’s wrong to be wearing that primarily because she looks ridiculous! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not morally opposed to wearing fur. But we have to draw a line somewhere. And it looks like the line is behind Sharon Stone. If you’re gonna wear fur, do it right, or not at all.

The Anti Fur Society (http://www.antifursociety.org/) suggests on their website that we should do a simple test to tell if the fur that we are going to buy is real or faux.

Before buying what you think is FAUX but which could be real fur (dog/cat/fox/rabbit), please do the simple test:

1) REAL FUR: Feels smooth, soft. Blow on longhaired fur, it divides such as soft hair. Often made of several layers of thin hair, the fibers form a dense under-wool through which the longer hairs stick out. The base is leather and resists a pin. It burns like human hair, smells similar.

2) FAUX FUR: Feels coarse, simpler structure; pierces easily with a pin. Individual hairs are often the same length and have and even color. Burns like plastic; hair feels hard between finger and thumb. Close to light, its shine is different from real fur.

Yeah, that’s right. We should bring out a lighter and burn a bit of a fur coat to tell whether it is fake or not!

Anyway, what’s all the fuss about wearing fur anyway? I mean, unless you’re a non-leather wearing vegan, don’t you think it’s a bit hypocrytical to be telling people they shouldn’t be wearing fur?

Fair enough, when you watch videos of some of the cruelty to animals that goes on it’s plainly disgusting. But the fact of the matter is that even people who wear fur will find this sort of thing repugnant. Skinning animals alive is just sick. The video below comes from PETA (http://features.peta.org/ChineseFurFarms/ftf.asp)

Just because this sort of thing goes on in some cultures, does this mean that people the world over should not be allowed to wear fur? Animals are grown for meat. Isn’t it just the same thing to grow them for fur? If they are killed humanely, what does it matter if it is their meat or their fur that is used?

Before jumping on your high horse, it might be a good idea to take a look at your own actions. Do you eat meat? Do you eat fish? Do you have any leather shoes? Telling people not to wear fur coats is in some respects similar to demonizing drug users. Sure, there are arguements against this sort of behaviour but wouldn’t proper government regulation serve to stamp out inhumane fur farming practices. This could ensure better treatment for animals, profits for farmers, tax revenues for the state and ethical fur products for people who want them.