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MEPs
urge fur trade crackdown
MILLIONS OF cats and dogs are routinely slaughtered and their
fur used to make sweaters, coats, rugs and cuddly toys that
are sold to an unsuspecting public, Euro MPs revealed last week.
Struan Stevenson, the Scottish Conservative MEP, challenged
the European Union to follow the example of the United States
and Italy, which have introduced a ban on the import or sale
of such goods.
"Europe’s public, its legislators and ministers all
want an end to the import, export and sale of these items. Despite
such strength of opinion, this cruel trade in cat and dog fur
is still not illegal in Europe. I am determined to press for
an immediate ban," he said.
Flanked by Liberal Democrat and Green colleagues, he displayed
two rugs. One had been made with the skins of four golden retrievers
and another with the fur of 20 cats.
A small figurine of a kitten in a straw basket, which the MEP
had bought in Shetland but can be found in airport shops and
other outlets, was labelled "made in China: animal by-products".
DNA tests revealed that it had been made from dog hair.
China is the main source of the two million cats and dogs that
are killed annually for their fur. But the country is not alone.
Evidence provided by the American animal welfare group, Humane
Society International, which secretly filmed several furriers
earlier this year, confirms that the practice is well-established
in Belgium.
Mr Stevenson said: "One merchant even stated that cats
were farmed in Belgium. Another claimed that stray cats and
dogs were being rounded up in Brussels and Ghent and killed
for their pelts. A third furrier claimed that dog and cat skins
were routinely purchased through an English-speaking broker
in China."
The furs are made into coats and stuffed animals and are used
as trim for gloves, boots and clothing. Tests on a lambswool
woman’s jumper bought in Amsterdam revealed that pompoms
on the garment were made from dog fur.
Chris Davies, the Liberal Democrat MEP, who supports a ban,
suggested that the EU should insist on proper labelling "so
that people can make their own decisions".
Items made from cat and dog fur either have no labels indicating
their origin or use false terms, such as "gae-wolf",
"sobaki", "special skin" or "mountain
cat".
No evidence
The
European Commission insisted yesterday that there was no evidence
of cats and dogs being farmed for their fur inside the Union.
It also argued that it had no powers under animal welfare
rules to introduce a ban.
Critics retorted that action could be justified under consumer
protection legislation.
The British Government supports clamping down on the use of
cat and dog fur. A spokesman said: "We are very concerned
that domestic cat and dog fur may be being produced within
the EU."
Britain has banned fur farming and is encouraging its EU partners
to take similar action.
David Bowles head of the RSPCA’s international and campaigns
department said: "The RSPCA is horrified to learn that
dog and cat fur may be being produced in the EU. There are
no guidelines on how to humanely farm and slaughter these
animals and the capacity for suffering is significant.
"The UK government has already banned the farming of
any animal for its fur on moral grounds but there is a danger
that cat and dog fur could now be imported from other EU countries
and put on sale to consumers. The European Commission has
concluded that each member state must decide for itself on
how to tackle this issue and we would now call on the UK government
to go beyond its preferred approach of labelling goods and
opt instead for an outright ban on the import of cat and dog
fur products.
"Fur in our culture is an inessential luxury product.
Most cat and dog fur is incorrectly labelled due to its controversial
nature and we would urge the public to think carefully about
buying any fur item. If there was no demand there would be
no farming."
The Kennel Club's Phil Buckley said, " We have been aware
of this issue for a while now and allowed 'Voice4Dogs' - a
campaigning group directly involved with this issue - to peacefully
protest at Crufts 2003 outside the NEC Main Entrance. I was
shown some of the fur products that Voice4Dogs have managed
to obtain and quite frankly, these products were both upsetting
and appalling. We are aware that the anti-fur campaign has
been gathering momentum since Crufts and they continue to
receive assistance from Struan
Stevenson MEP and other politicians, who are all also understandably
concerned about the plight of these animals and would like
to do all that they can to help. Further information can be
found at www.voice4dogs.org and the KC would request that
Our Dogs readers do all they can to help."
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