UK Fur Trade Recommended for Public Consultation After PETA’s #FurFreeBritain Campaign
Today, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee called for government action to tackle fur sales in the UK.
After PETA and other animal-protection groups handed in a petition with more than 400,000 signatures to Number 10 calling for a fur-free Britain, triggering a parliamentary debate on the issue, the EFRA Committee published a report recommending that the government launch a consultation on the importation and sale of animal fur.
Fur farming has been illegal in Britain for nearly two decades, but cruelly produced fur items are still being imported for sale here. On fur farms, animals typically spend their entire lives confined to tiny, filthy cages, where they’re given no opportunity to engage in natural kinds of behaviour, such as playing, running, finding food, and raising a family. The stress of this extreme confinement often drives them insane, and fighting, self-mutilation, and cannibalism are common. At the end of their miserable lives, they face a horrific death – often by gassing, electrocution, or poisoning.
PETA and many UK citizens welcome any move towards a ban on fur, which has gone from a sign of high fashion to a badge of dishonour and a symbol of extreme cruelty to animals. Nearly 20 years ago, fur farming was deemed by Parliament to be too cruel a practice to be accepted by civilised society, and steps need to be taken to ban fur imports into the UK, too.
What You Can Do
While this news moves us closer to making the UK a fur-free-zone, we must continue to speak out against the cruel fur industry.
