Because it's Eco-Friendly: Today's fur remains one of the most eco-friendly of fabrics. Not only is its warmth and luxury unequaled, but it is completely recyclable and reusable. Environmentalists demand that products need to be durable and functional, making fur even more appealing. Fur garments can, with proper care and fashion savvy, be used for decades. A fur garment can morph from coat to jacket to vest, to liner. In the past, they were even passed down from generation to generation. While that may not be in your future, fur coats, jackets and vests can be reinvented as fashion and home accessories, collars, linings, hand bags, pillows even the ultimate luxury – a fur bedspread. All of this shows that fur is an excellent financial and fashion investment – the ultimate in eco-friendly fashion.
Fur is very much a renewable resource. With strong regulations in place our fur-bearer species and their habitat have flourished, as trappers and governments have carefully nurtured these stocks. An example of this diligence is the fact there are more beavers in Canada now than when the European explorers first arrived. Canadian Trappers and their government have developed the world’s most humane trapping systems and standards and are signatories to the Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards (AIHTS), along with the United States, the European Union and Russia.
Trappers serve a dual role: they contribute to the economy through their livelihood and assist in wildlife management through government-imposed quotas. Maximum quotas protect the animals from being over-harvested while minimum quotas assist with wild life population control. Trappers also act as eyes and ears of the land: they are among the first to sound an alarm if the environmental balance is upset, such as by pollution or habitat destruction.
In terms of fur farming, Canadian and American fur farmers abide by national codes of practice and regulations to ensure that their animals are well cared for and harvested humanely. Both wild fur and ranched fur from North America qualify for Origin Assured labels guaranteeing consumers the highest standard of care.
Because it's Ethical: Most of us grew up with wonderful stories of Mama Bear and Baby Bear and we all love Bambi. But Nature is not Disneyland. To ensure the survival of species, most animals produce more young than Nature can support to maturity. These young animals will die of hunger and disease or will be killed by other animals. We can use part of this surplus without reducing wildlife populations. This is called “sustainable use”, a principle now recognized and promoted by all serious conservation organizations. The fur trade (and other wildlife use) also provides a financial incentive to protect the natural habitat of animals. And, even if there were no market for furs, trapping would still be needed in many regions to control the spread of disease (like rabies), to protect property, and to help maintain a balance with available habitat. Trappers are practicing environmentalists in a very real sense!
Who are the animal activist groups and what do they really want?
The most prominent of these organizations, PETA & HSUS, would like you to believe that they are ‘’charitable’’ organizations, raising funds to protect animals. They really function more like well-oiled propaganda and fundraising machines investing millions in media campaigns, paying handsome salaries to their executives and spending very little on animal shelters. (see: www.petakillsanimals.com). They often use extremist (and sometimes terrorist-like) tactics to get media attention and influence public opinion. They seek to abolish ALL use of animals, even for food or vital medical research. They oppose using leather, honey or seeing-eye dogs. They believe that keeping pets is a form of “slavery”.
They see fur as an easy target because it is perceived to be relatively expensive and glamorous -- and therefore can be caricatured as a “frivolous” luxury for a small group of rich people. In reality the fur industry is made up of very small family-run businesses, artisans, trappers and farmers who are not media-savvy like PETA or the HSUS, and don’t have the financial means to compete with the multi-million dollar budgets of the lucrative new “protest industry’’.
While it is totally legitimate to have differing personal views on the use of animals, whether in our diets or for the clothes we wear, is it really fair to single out one industry and attack the livelihoods of thousands of people, who, like everybody else, have families to raise and bills to pay? Is it really fair to attack the fur industry in a society where 97% of the population eats meat and uses animal products everyday?
Watch us run our trappline...
Watch this You Tube video and learn how to skin a beaver
