From Mark Glover, Respect for Animals
Though she surely doesn’t mean to, Ros Clubb reinforces a blatant marketing exercise by the fur trade (18 June, p 22). Having lost the animal welfare arguments, the fur trade has concentrated on economics and fashion to promote itself, and is trying to convince us all that “fur is back”. If it can persuade consumers that fur goods are leaping off the shelves, the theory goes, more people will buy its wares.
The fur trade is not back, particularly in the UK, where the London department store Selfridges recently announced that it will not stock any items made from real fur in any of its stores from now on, citing “a decline in demand for fur-related products”. The figures do not support the increase suggested.
However, demand is undoubtedly growing in emerging markets such as Russia and China. To meet the demands of the international fur trade, an animal is killed every second. Anti-fur groups like ourselves have our work cut out to try to counter this particular form of cruelty. We should not be killing animals for trivial and unnecessary purposes.
Nottingham, UK
