Social problem essay
Illegal Fur Trade
Picture yourself sitting in your home. What property such as clothing, pillows, and couches could possibly have been made from fur? There is a strong possibility that many of your household items were made using real animal fur. Investigations from the People for the Ethical Treatment of animals (PETA) found shocking results that “China supplies more than half of the finished fur garments imported for sale in the United States” meaning you or the person sitting next to you, could very well be wearing a skinned animal. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) stated that the fur industry “mistreats and kills more than 50 million animals a year”. The most shocking fact is that not only is this tragedy happening to wild animals; it is also happening to our own domestic animals such as cats and dogs. Many countries such as Denmark and Russia are large fur traders, but China is the top country of the illegal fur trade. Undercover investigators from Swiss Animal Protection International visited fur farms in China 's, and quickly learned why outsiders are banned from visiting. “There are no penalties for abusing animals on fur farms in China—farmers can house and slaughter animals however they see fit.” The investigators found horrors beyond their worst imaginings. Not only are the farmers abusing these animals, they are also making it impossible for people to understand where this fur may be coming from. “Even if a fur garment 's label says it was made in a European country, the animals were likely raised and slaughtered elsewhere—possibly on an unregulated Chinese fur farm.” We could very well be encouraging the growing demand of fur trade in the U.S and not even know it.
The United States has already banned the sales of cat and dog fur, but an HSUS investigation proved otherwise. “Dog fur is still slipping into the country on unlabeled and falsely advertised jackets.” The Global Action Network (GAN), is a nonprofit organization stating that
Picture yourself sitting in your home. What property such as clothing, pillows, and couches could possibly have been made from fur? There is a strong possibility that many of your household items were made using real animal fur. Investigations from the People for the Ethical Treatment of animals (PETA) found shocking results that “China supplies more than half of the finished fur garments imported for sale in the United States” meaning you or the person sitting next to you, could very well be wearing a skinned animal. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) stated that the fur industry “mistreats and kills more than 50 million animals a year”. The most shocking fact is that not only is this tragedy happening to wild animals; it is also happening to our own domestic animals such as cats and dogs. Many countries such as Denmark and Russia are large fur traders, but China is the top country of the illegal fur trade. Undercover investigators from Swiss Animal Protection International visited fur farms in China 's, and quickly learned why outsiders are banned from visiting. “There are no penalties for abusing animals on fur farms in China—farmers can house and slaughter animals however they see fit.” The investigators found horrors beyond their worst imaginings. Not only are the farmers abusing these animals, they are also making it impossible for people to understand where this fur may be coming from. “Even if a fur garment 's label says it was made in a European country, the animals were likely raised and slaughtered elsewhere—possibly on an unregulated Chinese fur farm.” We could very well be encouraging the growing demand of fur trade in the U.S and not even know it.
The United States has already banned the sales of cat and dog fur, but an HSUS investigation proved otherwise. “Dog fur is still slipping into the country on unlabeled and falsely advertised jackets.” The Global Action Network (GAN), is a nonprofit organization stating that
Cited: 2 PETA. "A Shocking Look Inside Chinese Fur Farms." PETA. PETA. Web. 4 Oct. 2011 3 "Fur Trade: Cat and Dog Fur." Global Action Newtwork. Web. 4 Oct. 2011. <http://www.gan.ca/campaigns/fur+trade/ cat+and+dog+fur.en.html>. 4 "Facts about the Fur Trade." Infurmation. Fur Free Alliance. Web. 4 Oct. 2011 6 Achilles, Allen W. "Fur - To Wear or Not to Wear?" Kidzworld. 2011. Web. 17 Oct 8 "Dogs and Cats in the Fur Trade." The Humane Society of the United States. HSUS. Web. 4 Oct. 2011. <http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/ dogs_cats_fur/>. 9 "Seal Hunt." The Humane Society of the United States. HSUS. Web. 4 Oct. 2011 Web. 10 Oct. 2011. <http://www.globalissues.org/issue/235/ consumption-and-consumerism>. 14 Schor, Juliet B. The Overspent American. New York City: Basic Books, a Member of Perseus Books, L.L.C., 1998