75% of Brits Consider Bearskin Caps a ‘Bad Use of Government Funds’
Despite being offered specially designed, free faux fur until 2030, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) continues to make killing black bears for their skins a profitable pursuit for hunters. It has spent £1 million on bearskin caps in the last seven years alone – and the public agrees that it is an enormous waste of taxpayer money. A new poll carried out by Populus – official pollster of The Times – reveals that 75% of the UK public considers the bearskin caps a “bad use of Government funds”. And 73% would like to see the prime minister take action to replace the bearskins with faux fur.
As many people in the UK struggle to pay for essentials like gas and electricity, it’s shameful that the government is wasting taxpayer money on ornamental bearskin caps.
Our Taxes Are Funding Bear Slaughter
A Freedom of Information request at the end of last year revealed that each cap costs an astounding £1,710, even though they serve no military purpose.
Leading faux-furrier ECOPEL has offered the MoD an unlimited amount of its faux bear fur free of charge, meaning that a move away from cruelly obtained bearskins could save hard-hit taxpayers over £1 million.
It takes the skin of at least one bear to make a single cap. Some bears are shot several times before they die, and some escape only to bleed to death. When mother bears are killed, their cubs are left to starve.
Despite the MoD’s claims that bears are killed as part of Canadian government “culls”, PETA has found no evidence that any culls of this sort exist in any province or territory of Canada. We believe the ministry is using the term as a euphemism for the annual hunting tags issued by the Canadian government to hunting enthusiasts who bait and kill bears for “sport”. Hunters may then sell the bearskins to fur auction houses and other suppliers for financial gain. This means that UK taxpayers are funding the slaughter of bears in Canada and making the sale of their skin a profitable pursuit for cowardly hunters.
Add Your Name to Help Spare Bears
If 100,000 people sign this petition, it will trigger a debate in Parliament which would allow us to demand a humane, animal-free alternative to save taxpayer money and bears’ lives.
Please sign it and ask all your friends to do the same:
