Be careful of purchases when trying to be fashionable. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has concluded that 24 out of 25 “Faux” fur coats are actually made from dog fur and are legally mislabeled because of a technicality in the law.
According to the Humane Society of the United States in their online news brief dated March 13, “Under current law, fur must be identified with a label, but only if the value of the fur exceeds $150, which coincidentally is more than a few pelts worth of fur. Once fur is identified on a label, regardless of value, the species must be accurately disclosed…the Dog and Cat Protection Act of 2000 banned the trade on domestic dog and cat fur.”
The situation is that 96%, according to the HSUS, of faux fur coats that were tested were found to be comprised of Raccoon dog fur. Many of these coats were mislabeled as being made of raccoon fur to avoid breaking the domesticated dog fur laws or not labeled at all. The Raccoon dog of China is a small raccoon-like canine that is kept as a pet and also bred for its fur. Half of all fur garments come from China and are comprised of this animal’s hide.
Democratic U.S. Representative Jim Moran of Virginia and Republican Michael Ferguson of New Jersey introduced an act that focuses on preventing the sale of Raccoon fur and requiring the labeling of all fur garments no matter the value of the fur. The act has received outstanding support in Congress with 45 additional co-sponsors.
The HSUS has petitioned the Federal Trade Commission to take action against the many retailers that have yet to remove garments containing Raccoon dog fur from their shelves. These retailers include: Andrew Marc, Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman, Bluefly, Dillard’s, Foot Locker, JC Penney, Lord & Taylor, Macy’s, Michael Kors, Neiman Marcus, Baby Phat, and Ross and Speiwak.
The on-going battle against companies that would use animal fur in products that the HSUS has headed up has a website that is full of information for the concerned consumer. Visit hsus.org/furfree for information on what is being done, who the major offenders are, and how you can help the fight to keep fur on animals.