I want you to cast your minds back. Back to your childhoods, back to your teen years, maybe back to being a parent. Whoever you are reading this there is no doubt in my mind that you will have watched, or at least heard of 101 Dalmatians: In summary – one woman’s quest to kill and skin 101 Dalmatian puppies in a bid for ‘this seasons’ coat.
Yes, this is an ethics blog. Don’t worry! It’s not story time. What I’m getting at is the subject of animals in fashion. More precisely, the ethical debate behind animal furs and skin.
Millions of animals, year on year are ‘sacrificed’ in the name of fashion.
“Frederick: I thought we liked stripes this year.
Cruella De Vil: What kind of sycophant are you?
Frederick: Uh… what kind of sycophant would you like me to be?”
(101 Dalmatians, 1996)
Maybe there are true ‘Cruella De Vil’s’ out there, that dream of Dalmatian fur coats and I know there are people out there who strut around in Snakeskin boots and use Alligator bags. Well, I know my mum has a fox fur coat up in our attic that she bought with a couple of pay cheques back in the 80’s. She never wears it. She says it feels ‘wrong’.
Fashion is a fast paced business, reliant on trends and followers. Mondays latest handbag is sooo last season by Friday, how can anybody compete with that? Is it right that as human beings, we allow a small minority (the fashion houses/designers) to dictate the way we use animals in fashion? It could be argued however, that it is the consumers (us) who dictate what appears on the shelves, through demand and popular culture.
“I live for fur. I worship fur”
(Cruella De Vil, 1996)
The issue here maybe is down to the individuals’ own personal ethical and moral beliefs. If something looks good of course you want to buy it, but maybe we need to second think where it actually came from. Did you know that to make one fur coat it takes at least fifty-five wild mink, or one hundred chinchillas? It could take twenty-five skunk, fourteen otters or even eleven silver foxes?
“Any way you want. Poison them, drown them, bash them on the head. Got any chloroform? I don’t care how you kill the little beasts. Just do it, and do it NOW!”
(Cruella De Vil, 1996)
Could you imagine if your cat or dog was beaten and cut into a fur gilet? Or your pet snake was skinned alive in pursuit of a purse? I couldn’t. But it happens. Not to our pets, but to millions of animals every year.
The treatment of these animals is what really stirs up the ethical conscience in us all. The majority of fur is sourced from the likes of China and India, whilst the majority of wool is extracted from Australia – It’s not all surfing and Barbeques.
It is estimated that nearly 85% of the worlds fur is the product of animals which are cramped and confined in ‘fur farms’. Fur farms store and breed animals in unnatural and harsh settings. They are banned in the UK and in the Netherlands and since 2006, fur farms have been on the decline in the United States.
Fur farms use procedures such as electrocution, gassing and poisoning. Some farms even go as far as skinning their animals ‘live’, without using any form of medication. To think, these innocent animals are having their throats cut and skins ripped from their backs ALIVE!? After all, these are just animals.
Defenceless.
Vulnerable.
Check out this link on the truth about fur farms: http://features.peta.org/ChineseFurFarms/
Surely the thought of animal cruelty is enough to put people off using them in fashion? Or maybe thats not what consumers care about – could it be the fact consumers want to be wearing the latest design hot off the catwalk, to impress their fellow fashionistas? Could it be society in 2012 that feels it’s okay to slaughter and victimise the animals in the name of fashion? Lets just hope that the Cruella’s of the world find their ethical compass soon. Should animal fur have a place in fashion?
Lets start the debate!
Josh
Everything Ethics 