(06/12/2006) Letter to The Independent on Sunday

Editor
Independent on Sunday

Dear Sir

It was with great regret that we read your editorial, The fur flies, and the two articles published on fur (26 November and 3 December). The tirade against our trade is based on a series of assumptions supplied to you by organisations that are profiting from the promotion of hatred and intimidation against us, and that wish to see the demise of our communities supplying fur in many different parts of the world. 

The British Fur Trade Association (BFTA) is a member of the International Fur Trade Federation (IFTF), an international federation of national trade associations representing 31 countries worldwide. IFTF and its local associations promote the adherence to strict codes of practice that meet or exceed many international, national and state government standards for animal welfare.

You assume that there is a trade in cat and dog fur in the UK.  Our members (since 2002) have a voluntary ban on such a trade and the government say they have not been presented with any evidence of a trade in fur into the UK originating from domestic cat or dog skins.

You assume conditions on fur farms are cruel.  Mink and fox have been bred on fur farms for well over 200 generations in North America and Europe, where fur farming is governed by high welfare standards and legislation.  These farmed animals are far removed from their wild cousins.  The fur trade invests millions of euros in independent scientific research to ensure the most current standards of animal husbandry are met.

In North America, the main supplier of wild fur, trapping conforms to the standards set out in the International Humane Trapping Standards Agreement.  The fur trade has spent millions of dollars developing research to improve trapping methods which is vital to the conservation and management of wildlife - it guarantees the survival of many fur bearing species.

You assume the methods used to raise Karakul sheep in Afghanistan and Namibia are worse than the methods used to raise sheep on Welsh farms.  They are not and neither are unborn lambs used.  Have you bothered to visit the communities in Namibia or Afghanistan to find out the truth for yourselves?  Maybe you would prefer the farmers and herdsmen in Afghanistan to abandon their traditional lifestyle and grow opium instead?

We suggest your reporter do some first hand research, visit fur farms in Scandinavia and go to trap lines in Canada and provide evidence of a trade into the UK of imported cat and dog fur.

The fur trade has standards of animal husbandry as high and in many cases higher than most others.  The fur trade supports traditional rural lifestyles across the globe without government subsidy.  Any woman who wears fur can be as comfortable doing so as those who eat meat or wear leather or sheepskin.

In 2002, the British Fur Trade Association and the European fur trade introduced a fur labelling system to provide more uniform labelling information to the consumer.  Under this system, a label providing the name of the fur type in Latin, English and/or the local language is firmly attached or sewn to the retailer’s or manufacturer’s existing label in a garment or product containing fur.

The International Fur Trade Federation is currently working to implement an additional labelling initiative, designed to provide consumers with information about the origin of the fur in their new fur purchase.  Under the programme, a hangtag or label with the Origin Assured (OA) mark will assure the consumer that their fur comes from a country where national or local regulations or standards governing fur production are in force. The programme is currently under development, and is due to be phased in during the 2006/07-fur season.

In the interests of balanced journalism, we hope you will publish this response. We invite you and your colleagues to engage honestly and openly with the fur industry, so your journalist colleagues can see the evidence and weigh all sides of the argument themselves and not be content to echo the propaganda of others.

Yours sincerely

British Fur Trade Association