http://www.heathermillsmccartney.com/petition.php?

I now this isn't a directly related topic, but I thought people might like to be aware of this campaign. There is an online petition against the use of dog and cat fur in the fur trade. I will warn you there are some very upsetting photographs of suffering dogs on the website, so be warned, but it would be good to get as many signatures as possible together if it will help to end this sick trade.

ADMIN: Caution needed with this link. Unsuitable for all

Signed :-) but the pictures are not nice, please do not look if you are easily upset.

That is why I thought I would issue a warning, and the link should take you straight to the petition page as opposed to the information page which displays the most grafic pictures. This is a horrific trade, and so it is well worth signing the petition to try and get this trade stopped, but as mentioned, the pictures are highly unpleasant.

How terrible. Very upseting. Signed it.

WSPA is aware of this trade and has been actively campaigning and working with the governments of countries involved to stop it. It is often marketed under another other name ( can't remember what at the moment but will ask Trevor when he gets home ) - on his last trip to the Far East he brought back 'souvenirs' which were ornaments in the shape of sleeping cats and when analysed they were made of cat fur - how sick  :(

Please sign the petition

Yvonne

Signed it - also sent to everyone in my address book - please do the same & ask them to also send it to everyone they know.

Jo

I know exactly what ornaments you mean. I know someone who had one in her office, and who believed it was made from man-made iitation fur, but it was actually real cat fur. It is absolutely disgusting. Please sign.

And everyone please send a letter to the European commissioner and to Douglas Alexander who is the UK minister for trade. There is one on heather website and all you have to do is fill in you address print it, sign it, and send it. This is to try and convince them to ban fur trade. 
Sarah xxxxx

signed petition regarding fur trade thank you for bringing this to my attention. AS A OWNER OF BOTH DOGS AND CATS I FIND THIS A VERY SICK TRADE INDEED DO PEOPLE NOT REALISE ANIMALS HAVE FEELINGS TOO?

Just signed it, and will pass on to my whole college, it is just too sad for words :(
Carol

I agree carol, well done for passing it on to your college. It must be so sad for you as you have done so much work to learn how to treat and care for sick dogs, cats and other animals and to see them killed... disgusting. :( :( :(

Sarah xxxx

I have just signed, I did not know that this even existed, what kind of sick people would wear these kind of  things knowing wear they came from?
Its awful.

I have signed it,how awful it is so upsetting  ,i hope these people rot in hell for inflicting this severe cruelty.

Sheila.

Duly signed and will post link on another non-dog related forum. 

Have signed it - please people, don't be put off going to the link because there are no deeply upsetting photos on the petition page (just of people holding a rug or garments made of fur, nothing else).

Very sad to read though how many GSD pups and now many cats, and Golden Retrievers it takes to make a rug etc :(

Lindsay
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DONT LOOK I warn you all. I once looked at a link it was a video 1. I was in a state for weeks over it, the worst thing I have ever seen.
I cant understand why admin as not removed this link, its mad.

The link only takes you to a page to sign a petition sharon.
The pictures are on another page and you don't have to look at them.

Yes do look! Like lisab staff said you have to click on a few links to see a video link. If you really dont want to see a not very clear picture of a fur rug than when the page opens scroll down staight away. Please please please take the time and have a look and fill it in.

sarah xxxxx

Ok I will go sign petition then, its just the video I saw was realy disturbing. You know this happens but untill you see how you know nothing.

signed, the golden retriever part upset me I just kept thinking of our old girl Amber:o(

hi ... ive signed but couldnt bear to look as i had a gsd sadly no longer with me.

Just signed, its awful! Im shocked to hear that this isnt already banned, cant believe this goes on! :(

Not long ago a catwalk show featured fur accessories made of dog and cat fur. It is a disgusting trade. Also, to reiterate, i purposefully only posted the link to the petition, so there is no need to warn people not to look. It is upsetting, and I was deeply upset when I looked into this issue, but the link is for the petition only. Please sign, as it is by putting pressure on our government to act.

signed it. :( 
Dee

there are 13421 signatures so far.

If possible can people post this on other dog/cat related forums, or even any other forums they visit which may be receptive to this kind of campaign? Also, send the link on to family and friends. We need to get the number of signatures up!

xx

Some of the Dog Toys are also made of the fur too.So be careful what you buy for your Pets to play with.

The problem with dealing with 'cruelty' issues such as this, is that the western world can often be seen to be hypocritical - the dog and cat fur trade  are supplied by animals which are largley farmed for their fur in the same way that other fur is. The Korean and Chinese governments accuse us of being  imperialistic over our attempts to stop such trades and this raises huge problems for welfare organisations who are trying to work on these issues. We may find the thought of Golden Retrievers etc being farmed and killed for their fur repugnant, but they see no difference betwen this and mink or silver foxes being bred for the same purpose.

The same arguement applies to the horrendous dog meat market ( particularly in Korea) - the sights and sounds that Trevor experienced there were the most traumatic of all his work with WSPA - and yet we are no closer to stopping this than before - the reason is that we have no convincing answer to the accusation of double standards - we need to be looking at how we view our treatment of animals in gnereral and not just reserve our compassion for the few 'pet species' that share our lives ( think back to the recent thread about the racing pigeon - considered disposable because it would not race :()

Sorry lecture over - I know that I have a tendency to rant on about this ;)

Yvonne

I agree that there cannot really be any animal that is "sacred" in terms of farming but think there is a lot that can be argued about how they are kept and slaughtered.  I really don't think that there is any comparison between what is permitted for these dogs and cats and the farming and slaughtering techniques used in the this country.  There is still a lot to be desired in Europe but hopefully people are working on that.  Two wrongs don't make a right so tell Trevor, et al to keep up the good work :)

I can see exactly what you mean. I read recently that 60% of the world population still practice the eating of dog and cat meat, which perfectly illustrates that we are in the small minority against the practice. The thing is, is that at least in terms of the trade in dog and cat fur, if we can tighten the legislation that allows this stuff to get into our country, we will no longer be supplying an import market to this trade. It may be a small market, but it is making a stand by affecting the trade financially in terms of loss of revenue, which may or may not cut the numbers of cats and dogs killed for their fur, but certainly stops people buying these items not knowing that the fur in question comes from an animal they would consider a domestic pet. I do agree though that it is very difficult to balance our 'western' view with practices in other countries, and I do agree that we have no right to dictate 'cultural' practices in other countries, but we do have the right to try and stop this stuff from getting over here. I know exactly what you mean about this difference in attitude. I am mixed race myself, and I love animals, and believe staunchly that we were put on this earth to protect and respect the world around us, which includes the care of animas. My mum is Iranian and has a much more practical attitude to domestic pets perhaps typical of the middle east. 
Anyway, it is very early for me as I worked a late shift last night, so this may all have come across as garbled nonsense, but I am glad to see some debate and interest in this subject.

I have signed, I didn't dare look at the photo's though. I was nearly in tears at the picture on the link! It is very sad. :( :( :(

Natalie

I think for me, the main difference IS  the way the animals - dogs, etc - are kept and killed. I understand they are deliberately terrified out of their wits, beaten/skinned alive,  and killed slowly so as to produce adrenalin and tenderise the meat :(

I realise not all animals in the UK are killed or kept humanely - thinking battery chickens here - but what they do to dogs and cats elsewhere seems particularly awful.

Lindsay
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I couldn't agree more, Lindsay. :( I couldn't give a hoot what animals people eat as long as it's been raised naturally and killed humanely. Unfortunately those criteria don't even apply to all food animals kept in this country either.

I think that is because you do (in what some people would say was silly), form a relationship with a dog or a cat. When we go abroad, there are always loads and loads of dog's that are wondering about as strays, and cat's for that matter. I remember when we were in Lanzarote, we had hired a car while we were there, and this dog came running out of a house across the road, straight in front of us, luckily we missed him, but the owner came out of his house and was yelling and hitting the dog, we obviously told him it was fine, no harm done (except what he was doing to his poor dog) but we still felt really guilty. In most other countries, dog's and cat's are seen as decease carrying pest's, much like rat's and other vermin we have in England. More often than not when we are abroad we end up having a dog coming for food of an evening, and a cat that has decided they want to live with us for the 2 weeks! We always feel like we want to bring them home with us!

Other countries all have what seem's strange or funny (to us) foods that are the same as our 'egg 'n' chips'. Some countries won't eat pigs, or cows, which sure some people in England have a problem with eating these animals, but on the whole it is excepted as the 'norm', but then other countries eat frog's leg's and snail's, horses, and of course cat's and dogs, I have even heard of them eating rat's as a special treat! It sounds horrid and plain wrong to us, because this is not our culture.

The thing that makes the difference to me, is that all of the above, (no matter how strange or yuk sounding) all of these animals are basically killed to provide food, to kill any animal for anything else other than to keep populations down (e.g. rat's and wild rabbits) or as a way to free them from pain, I feel is VERY wrong, and un-called for.

Just my opinion guys and girls, so please don't all jump on me! :D

Natalie

Its terrible poor animals signed petition mandyd.

I want to bump this thread up so people don't forget it. I am sorry if some people want to let it lie, but any extra signatures would be appreciated.

I dont want to let this lie far from it Ive been and signed it. If part of my post hadnt been removed youd maybe youdunderstand a bit more.

I signed it last week on another forum :-), although I couldn't look no further than the petition page, it would be too upsetting :-(