Animals Used For Clothing
The evils of the fur industry are well-documented and have been well-publicised for decades now: trapping animals in bone-breaking steel traps, clubbing them to death, electrocuting them through their mouth or anus, breaking their necks and backs, skinning them alive...the list goes on.
Yet, some people continue to wear fur. I guess some people still don't get it.
However, another reason why the fur industry is booming with over 45 million animals being skinned per year for their fur, is not so much the people who don't get it (although they are clearly a part of the problem) - it's actually the people that do get it who unwittingly buy fur.
You might ask: how can anyone unwittingly buy fur? Good question.
To explain: when most people think of fur they tend to think of 60,000 dollar mink coats. So many people make the logical assumption that an inexpensive item - like a cheap jacket or kid's toy with fur trim can only contain faux fur.
The truth is that the Chinese fur trade skins countless rabbits, cats and dogs (among other animals) every day, and the pelt is worth is only a few dollars. So the fur trim that appears on an inexpensive jacket or a kid's toy doesn't make much of a difference to the price of the product. So while the logical assumption is that inexpensive clothing or kid's toys has to be faux, it's often real fur. To make it more confusing, it's not labelled as fur.
You can check whether you're looking at faux or real by pulling it apart and looking at the root. If you see that the strands are held down with stitching, you're looking at faux. If you see skin (and no stitching), you're looking at real fur.
What if you're not certain? Well, if you're in doubt, it's best to go without. Find another piece of clothing or a toy that you're absolutely sure about.
Always keep in mind: fur is only ever beautiful on the animal who was born wearing it. So, go vegan and stay fur-free.
How Could Feathers (or 'Down') Possibly Be Cruel?
Down is the soft layer of feathers closest to a birds' skin, and the down and feather industry is as cruel as any other industry that uses animals for clothing.
To begin with, most down comes from dead geese and ducks who were victims of the meat and foie gras (paté) industries. The meat industry is well-known for its cruelty to animals. There is footage of this all over the internet if you don't believe me.
The foie gras industry's cruelty also includes the usual abuse of the meat industry, but also adds force-feeding the geese and ducks via tubes shoved down their throats. The birds are pumped with huge amounts of food so that their livers become diseased. Their diseased livers will become foie gras (or paté).
Like all farmed animals, the geese and ducks are eventually sent to be killed. In the slaughterhouse they have their throats cut and are plunged (often alive and conscious if the throat-slashing isn't been done properly) into tanks of scalding hot water to remove their feathers.
Some down comes from living birds who regularly have large amounts of down torn from their bodies. If you imagine having your hair repeatedly ripped out of your head - that would be akin to the pain and distress these poor ducks and geese suffer on a regular basis.
With all the synthetic insulating materials that are available, there is absolutely no need to buy products containing feathers or down. Go vegan and choose the cruelty-free options.
Leather, Suede And 'Exotic' Skins
Even some people who are disgusted with fur will happily buy leather, suede, and 'exotic' animal skin products
There are three main reasons for this.
Firstly, because in most societies cows have (sadly) been relegated to being animals who are simply for human use and abuse. Animals killed for fur, on the other hand, are usually thought of as either wild animals or companion animals to be respected and loved.
Secondly, anti-fur campaigns are so widely-publicised by animal organisations, that they've made it seem as though fur is the cruellest of all animal-based clothing. And that's just not true. All animal-based clothing (including leather, suede, 'exotic' skins, silk, wool, sheepskin, feathers, and fur) is cruel.
Thirdly, because leather and suede are seen as by-products of the widely-accepted meat industry. The attitude is often: "Why not use the whole cow since we're killing her for meat anyway?"
On the first point, it's ridiculous to think that a cow is any less sentient than any wild or companion animal. Think about it: I'm sure a cow doesn't want to be killed and skinned any more than a lion or your dog does.
On the second point, just because big campaigns have not brought the cruelty of leather, suede and 'exotic' skin into the media, it doesn't mean they're not as cruel as fur and all other animal-based clothing. They absolutely are, without a doubt.
As for the third point of leather and suede being by-products of the meat industry, that's sometimes the case, but not always.
There are dogs sitting in cages in Thailand right now, about to be skinned so that leather products can be made out of their skin. Wild animals, like zebras and kangaroos, suffer the same fate to make leather items like shoes and belts. And in India, cows considered unsuitable for meat are skinned to make high-end leather products like soft leather jackets, handbags and sofas.
'Exotic' skin products are sometimes made from alligators, crocodiles, lizards and snakes, who are skinned alive to make handbags and wallets. Baby goats are boiled alive to make gloves, and unborn calves and lambs are aborted so that they can be skinned to make a variety of accessories.
Still, whether killed specifically for their skin, or skinned as well as being chopped up for people to eat, it all means violence and death for innocent animals. And seeing as there are loads of non-animal-based, cruelty-free clothes, shoes and accessories out there, so there's just no need to buy anything made of animals.
Please, buy fake for the animals' sake. The only skin anyone needs to wear is their own skin - the skin they were born in.
Dress vegan and remember: faux is cool, animal skins are cruel.
Surely Wearing Silk Isn't Cruel
Yes, actually, silk is cruel, because to create silk, millions of silkworms are steamed or gassed alive in their cocoons. That sounds like animal abuse to me.
The bottom line is that it doesn't matter whether we're talking about silk, wool, sheepskin, fur, suede, leather, down, feathers: it's all involves animal use and therefore it's all animal abuse.
There are many cruelty-free alternatives to silk, so there's no excuse in the world for anyone to buy it. Choose the vegan option and go silk-free.
The Wool Industry Is Anything But Soft And Fluffy
For years I thought that the wool industry was pretty harmless. A sheep getting their wool shorn would be like me getting a haircut, right? Wrong! The wool industry is as abusive as any other animal farming.
Something to explore before I explain some of the specific abuses of the wool industry is the notion that if we don't shear sheep, their wool will overgrow. That's true because we've bred sheep to be overly-woolly and in need of shearing. We - humans - have done that for our own gain.
If nature were left to itself, sheep wouldn't need shearing. Think about it: have you ever known of a wild animal who needs to be shorn or clipped? So our greed for more profit has lead to sheep being bred to grow abnormal amounts of wool that needs to be regularly sheared. And it's this over-wooliness that leads to the first wool industry-specific abuse which is mulesing.
Sheep bred to be overly-woolly often end up getting fly-blown. To combat this, the wool industry mutilates them. The painful mutilation - called 'mulesing' - is where large chunks of skin and flesh are cut from the lamb's rear end. Of course no painkillers are used as that would eat into the profit, and some lambs drop dead on the spot from the excruciating pain.
The lambs who survive go on to be abused in the typical ways all farmed animals are, including bad living conditions, rough treatment (especially during shearing), and overall neglect.
And, last but not least, comes the end point of all animal use which is death. Once the sheep are no longer useful in terms of wool production, they're either sent to the slaughterhouse and skinned to make sheepskin products, or live sheep are exported overseas. Most of the world's wool comes from Australia, so the trip to the Middle East is a long and harrowing one. Those who survive the journey land in the Middle East where they are then killed.
There are loads of great vegan alternatives out there, so there's absolutely no need to buy any animal-based clothes or accessories including wool and sheepskin products. Vegan versions of such products are readily available, so it's easy to choose cruelty-free.
What Should I Do With My Animal-Based Clothing?
Once I became aware that I had a wardrobe full of animal cruelty, the quandary of what to do with the animal-based clothing and accessories I already possessed arose.
It was clear that I was not going to buy any more such products, but what was I to do with the ones I already had?
This dilemma is one we are all faced with once we discover the abuse behind any leather, suede, 'exotic' skin, wool, sheepskin, silk, feather, down and fur products we own. Do we use the item until it's unable to be used? Do we get rid of it? If so, how? By giving it to charity or by throwing it away?
The following are the considerations behind each of the above choices:
- Some people make the decision to use the product until it can no longer be used. They feel that this is a show of respect to the animal who suffered and was killed for it to be made.
- Some people want to start their life as a vegan with a clean, cruelty-free slate and without animal-based products in their home. However, they feel it's disrespectful to throw away the products that animals suffered and were killed for, and so give them to charity.
- Others want to purge all cruelly-obtained animal-based clothing from not only their lives but also the world, and so throw all such products away. They feel that either using the product themselves or giving it to charity helps compound the notion of animals (and pieces of them) as commodities and mere 'things' to be used.
So, they are the schools of thought. Contemplate them and make your decision. Whatever you decide, one thing is certain: that you should only buy vegan from now on.