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“Fake Fur” Exposed as Real in UK Fashion Investigation
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When Donna Allison purchased a pair of Misgguided shoes recently, she had her suspicions. Not satisfied with the response she received from the company via Twitter that they only use fake fur in their products, she contacted Humane Society International. Acting on her concerns, the organization had the pom poms on the shoes tested, only to find out the fur was indeed not fake, it was cat. A second pair of shoes was proven to test positive for rabbit fur.
According to the Daily Mail, the importing and sale of any fur from domestic dogs and cats has been banned in the EU since 2009. Other products, touting the use of “faux fur,” have also been revealed to include animal fur from rabbit, mink, and fox. While not all use of fur is banned, some of the labels from products using animal fur were not labeled accordingly and, in the case of hat sold on Amazon UK, in spite of assurances on the listing giving a “no-fur assurance,” the product tested positive for raccoon dog.
Claire Bass, of HSI, said, “We know the vast majority of British people reject the inherent cruelty of the fur trade but they are not getting the right information as consumers to avoid it.”
With many products being produced in China, those campaigning for animals rights have made claim that upwards of 2 million cats, including stolen family pets, are used in the production of retail products for the fashion industry.
Many retailers have pulled products upon learning of the violation. “Fur free” retailer House of Fraser was also found to have gloves bearing rabbit fur, ceasing the sale of the gloves when notified of the issue. “We have a strict no fur policy and ensure all of our suppliers and brand partners are aware of this. We would never knowingly mislead our customers. We are extremely concerned that fur can be mislabelled in this way.”
