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The Dog and Cat Fur Trap

The Dog and Cat Fur Trap

THE TRAP: “Canadian fur manufacturers and retailers do NOT use domesticated dog and cat fur in the garments they produce or sell.”
- The Fur Council of Canada

It is completely legal to import and sell dog and cat fur in Canada, despite the fact that the United States, the European Union, Australia and Switzerland have all banned the practice. Most of the dog and cat fur entering Canada is imported from Asia (predominantly China), where approximately 2 million dogs and cats are killed for their fur each year. Most of the dogs and cats abducted for their fur are strays, with many even being stolen from their homes. Cats are routinely killed by strangulation, often in full view of their cage mates. Dogs are hung by the neck or paws and slashed across the groin. For graphic undercover video of this tragic reality, please click here.

Labeling laws in Canada are such that manufacturers are not required to identify the type of fur being used. According to Industry Canada, 60% of all fur garments entering Canada come from China. In 2004, this totalled an estimated $5 million in animal pelts and $28 million in fur-trimmed apparel.

As detailed in a recent exposé by the Toronto Star, many fur exporters in China intentionally mislabel their products to make them easier to sell. Dog fur is routinely sold as “Asian wolf”, cat fur is often sold as “rabbit” or “mink”, and raccoon dog fur* is sold as “Asiatic raccoon” or simply “raccoon”.

Meanwhile, The Fur Council of Canada continues to deny the existence of dog and cat fur in Canada, despite the fact that their poster child Canada Goose recently found dog and cat fur in imitation coats all across the country.

To make matters worse, Canada’s labeling laws only require that certain products be permanently labeled. According to the Canadian Competition Bureau, boots, shoes, slippers, handbags, toys, ornaments and pet accessories may use real fur (dog, cat, mink, etc.) but are not required to label it as such. Scarves, gloves, mittens and headwear are only required to feature ’non-permanent’ (removable) labels.

In other words, consumers could and do end up buying fur from almost any species without even knowing it.

Despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of Canadians oppose the use of dog and cat fur, the Canadian government has continually demonstrated no intention of prohibiting these imports. Why? According to David Emerson, Canada’s Former Trade Minister, “[a]dopting an import ban on dog and cat fur such as you suggest could undermine Canada’s case against implementation of import bans imposed on Canadian seal products”. In an attempt to appease industry, our government is thus using one form of animal cruelty to justify another.

Despite our current government’s resistance to dealing with the dog and cat fur issue, Vancouver-East MP Libby Davies has introduced Bill C-296, which, if passed, would ban the import and sale of dog and cat fur in Canada. It would also make the proper labelling of fur products mandatory.

 

What you can do

  • Don’t buy or wear fur of any kind. Even “faux” fur can be real.
  • Share this information with others.
  • Join Fur Bearers!
  • Download the petition to ban the import and sale of dog and cat fur in Canada, and encourage others to do the same. (Note: unlike online petitions, our petition has been pre-screened by the Government’s Procedural Clerk and Clerk of Petitions. Completed petitions will be presented to the House of Commons).

*Raccoon dogs are a member of the dog family native to eastern Asia. Confined to tiny cages on fur farms in China, they are routinely skinned alive. While they do bear a superficial resemblance to raccoons, raccoon dogs belong exclusively to the Canidae (dog) family and are not related to the Procyonidae (raccoon) family. Despite this fact, Canada allows their fur to be deceptively labeled as “Asiatic raccoon” or simply “raccoon” in an attempt to help make the product more easily marketable.

Several popular retailers including Soia and Kyo and Mackage use raccoon dog and label it as “Asiatic raccoon”. Mislabeling of raccoon dog is so commonplace that in 2011, the HSUS filed a false advertising complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission after at least 20 retailers in the U.S. were caught mislabeling raccoon dog fur. 70% of the tested garments were labeled as faux fur, “Asiatic racoon”, coyote, rabbit, or another species.