Relentless Inquiry

I was considering getting a leather coat with a fur collar. “Genuine raccoon fur”. I like woodland creatures as much as anybody, but there isn't a raccoon shortage by any means, and I believe that there are fairly humane traps [I was wrong, btw, there are NONE], or that they're shot in the wild. Turns out that a LOT of trim advertised as 'raccoon' or 'coyote' fur is actually raccoon-dog fur.

Not real raccoons (Family Procyonidae, Procyon lotor). They're raccoon dogs, (Family Canidae, Nyctereutes procyonoides). The picture doesn't show it well, but they have paws with claws, like foxes, and can climb trees like grey foxes.

They're not endangered. They occupy an ecological niche similar to foxes, though a biological journal paper on their spread through Europe indicates that they do not compete with foxes or badgers, as they specialize in berries, vs foxes preference for voles and badgers main food of invertebrates. They're extensively trapped and hunted for fur.

They're also farmed for fur, or captured live, in China, the biggest exporter of this kind of fur. And, guess what? They're FUCKING SKINNED ALIVE (don't click unless you have some time to cry. I won't watch this video. I could barely deal with the terrible, terrible still pictures. Which show quite clearly these animals' suffering.

I just got rid of most of the catalogs I usually order clothes from (Lane Bryant, Silhouettes, Roaman's, Just My Size) because they feature the fur-collar coats this year. I'm going to fax them and let them know why they just lost a customer who spends $300 – $600/year with them.

Yes, I eat meat, and own pets. I have some lambskins and shearling slippers, and a leather coat. I believe there are humane ways of doing these things. But it shakes my confidence that humanity is worth saving in any way when adults, any adults anywhere, can torture animals to death, and take obvious pleasure in their pain. The little boys who used to rip up salamanders on their slot-car raceway down the street, I can forgive them. I can't forgive these people killing these animals so cruelly, and not giving them the mercy of unconsciousness or death.

I don't want comments. Go talk about this in your own blog. I feel sick. 😦