FUR SOURCING AND REGULATIONS

In response to the article written in the Age 7 May 2021:

There is no evidence our company sources fur from suppliers who use cruel practices.

We do not condone electrocution, bludgeoning to death or skinning alive of animals. We make sure we work with regulated suppliers.

We sell 4 raccoon items which are now taken off the site.

The Age article specifically says "fur from often-tortured raccoon dogs" which does not apply to our business. We would never support or associate with these acts.

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Our fur is farmed/souced mainly in China and some in Europe. It is carefully sourced following ethical guidelines that are in line with ethical trading as well as the welfare of animals.

With significant advances in regulatory efforts towards the fur industry, it’s important to note that over 80% of all fur farms globally are guided by strict standards regarding ethical animal treatment and observation of wild and domesticated animal welfare.

Fur fashion has been in existence for almost a century and lots of areas regarding animal welfare have immensely changed for the better. However, the public has been deceived into believing that cruelty against fur animals is the norm. The fur industry and the fur farms have employed ethical treatment of the animals and they have been bread through selective breeding to adopt to domestication over time.

Like other livestock operations, fur farming is governed by local, national and sometimes international regulations.

As with all livestock producers, fur farmers receive information and assistance from licensed veterinarians and agricultural extension officers, as well as professional associations.

In addition, fur breeders’ associations in all major producing countries follow comprehensive animal husbandry practices developed in cooperation with scientists, veterinarians and welfare authorities. There are set standards for nutrition and housing, veterinary care and humane harvesting.

There is a common misconception that animals are skinned alive. This scurrilous claim continues to circulate, due to the horrendous video produced in 2005 by Swiss Animal Protection (SAP), in which an Asiatic Raccoon is skinned alive somewhere in rural China.

When the video surfaced, the Chinese authorities demanded to know details in order to prosecute the collaborators on animal cruelty charges, but SAP has refused to provide the original, un-edited footage, or provide any information on the participants or the locations used in the video. Upon further review, audio indicates that the participants were being coached from behind the camera. Their refusal to answer to the authorities or the public leads most of us to believe that this cruel and gruesome video was staged merely to further their animal rights agenda.

Recently, PETA Asia, after using this claim for years against the fur industry, stated that “PETA has never suggested that animals are intentionally slaughtered this way”