FUR

Appleton, Josie
In Defence of Fur. Ignore the protests of naked celebs: fashion is the best possible use of animals' skins
September 2006
"Just as a butterfly is never aware of the beautiful patterns on its wings, so a mink will wear its soft coat until death without ever appreciating it. For the mink, fur is just something that it carries around in the battle to survive, like claws or teeth. By being made into a fur coat, that mink's pelt is raised into something higher, just as a tree made into a violin is raised, or a cow made into a sumptuous steak is raised."

Cowan, James
Sleek Seal Is Fashion's "In" Skin : Body-conscious buyers drive pelt price to record high
January 2005
"Boosted by softening attitudes toward the seal hunt and renewed international trade, seal pelt prices are breaking records as consumers discover sealskin is soft, tough -- and exceptionally slimming." (This article is categorised under Marine Mammals / Seals)

Hutchings, Chrys
Money grows on trees in New Zealand. Cozying up to eco-friendly fur
2008
"Headlights trace the dying canopy of a stand of Pohutukawa trees. The decades-old, fourwheel- drive Range Rover slows, and a father and son disembark with their shotguns. They survey the formerly lush landscape with their flashlights until they catch the glint of paihamu eyes in a tree. Seconds later, a 12-pound paihamu lies dead on the ground ..."

Jagros, Tina
Wake Up Call
2001
"The fur industry has lived through a turbulent twenty years," recalls Canadian Outdoor Heritage Alliance director Tina Jagros. "We first came under attack on the seal issue. The fact that the industry itself did not use white coat seal pups was irrelevant. The fact that credible scientists found there was not excess suffering or cruelty involved was ignored. The one picture of the white coat seal has haunted our industry at every turn."

Lapointe, Eugene
The return of fur
February 2006
"It was noticeable how many athletes proudly wore fur at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. This seems to reflect a step change in public attitudes towards the wearing of animal skins. Romanians, Russians, Norwegians, New Zealanders, Italians and Mongolians all looked warm and comfortable sporting fur, if you pardon the pun."

Learn, Scott
Can fur be sold as eco-friendly? Portlander to find out
September 2008
"In 2004, Chrys Hutchings, her husband and their three young children spent a year in New Zealand, home to about 4.2 million people - and about 60 million Australian brushtail possums. Hutchings's kiwi sabbatical included plenty of talk about the ecological havoc imposed by possums, which exploded in numbers after would-be fur traders introduced them to New Zealand in the 1800s."

Lowry, Rich
PETA's War on the World's Dispossessed
February 2003
"People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals activists jumped on the runway during the Victoria's Secret fashion show and denounced Gisele Bundchen as 'Fur Scum.' ... But the receiving end of all the moral sanctimony is less glamorous: native communities in Canada and elsewhere that have been devastated by the near elimination of seal hunting." (This article is categorised under Marine Mammals / Seals)

Montgomery, Delia
Fur Ethics
November 2001
Environmental fashion consultant Montgomery interviews industry-leading fur farmer Larry Frye from Illinois.

Patteson, Jean
The Return of Fur : Once Near Fashion Extinction, It Is Roaming the Runways Again
January 1999
"For the first time in years, the weather is cold enough and the political climate warm enough to make wearing fur a comfortable choice. After almost a decade of being branded politically incorrect, fur is back in fashion.Orlando Sentinel and is reproduced with permission of the author.

Platt, Teresa
Plastic bags on our backs
March 2008
"Created in the 1970s as an inexpensive convenience, the plastic bag is now an everyday item with costs that are adding up fast," says the Executive Director of Fur Commission USA. "We use tens of billions of bags a month, or about half a million bags a minute! The vast majority are used only once and end up as litter or in landfills. Because plastic bags are light and compressible, they constitute only 2% of landfill by volume. The crux of the problem is their mineral origin."

Platt, Teresa
Feminism and Fur
March 2003
"Feminists regularly accuse People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA) of going beyond simply exploiting female bodies to sell their products to actually peddling 'soft-porn', entry-level pornography," says the Executive Director of Fur Commission USA.

Platt, Teresa
A Day at the Races
July 2000
The fur trade is so far ahead of politically correct, others are racing just to keep up, says the Executive Director of Fur Commission USA. This article was first published in Fur Farm Letter, July 2000, and is reproduced with permission of the author.

Platt, Teresa
Ho, Ho, Ho! Plastic Santas?
December 1999
From acrylic to modacrylic to polyester, polymers, monomers, nitriles and acrylonitriles, the Humane Society of the United States believes that all these non-organic, man-made chemicals will help us make an evolutionary jump to a "kinder, gentler" world. The Executive Director of Fur Commission USA thinks otherwise. This article was first published in Fur Farm Letter, December 1999, and is reproduced with permission of the author.

Ward, Simon
US Mink: State of the industry - 2011
December 2011
The Communications Director for Fur Commission USA from 1998 to 2011 reviews the state of the US and global mink fur industries.

Ward, Simon
US Mink: State of the industry - 2010
December 2010
The Communications Director for Fur Commission USA from 1998 to 2011 reviews the state of the US and global mink fur industries.

Ward, Simon
Saving the Planet with ... Plush Toys? "Green" groups' fundraising practice inconsistent with goals
November 2010
"While the debate over man's contribution to climate change rages, there is a general consensus that we need to reduce our dependency on petrochemicals. Taken individually, gas-guzzlers, polyester clothing, and plastic bags may not be the biggest blights on the planet, but collectively they are a behemoth. From oil well and tanker spills, to clogged landfills, chemical smogs, and waterways, oceans and beaches despoiled by plastic refuse, petrochemicals are harming our planet in myriad ways."

Ward, Simon
US Mink: State of the industry - 2009
December 2009
The Communications Director for Fur Commission USA from 1998 to 2011 reviews the state of the US and global mink fur industries.

Ward, Simon
US Mink: State of the industry - 2008
December 2008
The Communications Director for Fur Commission USA from 1998 to 2011 reviews the state of the US and global mink fur industries.

Ward, Simon
US Mink: State of the industry - 2007
December 2007
The Communications Director for Fur Commission USA from 1998 to 2011 reviews the state of the US and global mink fur industries.

Ward, Simon
Chinese fur farms: Media wary of latest shock video
May 2005
"The world’s fur industry held its breath this spring as animal rights groups released new and truly shocking video purporting to show 'normal' fur-production practices in China. Short-term damage, at least, has been limited in North America, in part because the media seem at last to be treating such materials with the skepticism they deserve. But the video is not going to disappear, and references to it in animal rights propaganda are everywhere."

Ward, Simon
Muddle-Headed Philosophers. When animal rightists deal in "murder"
April 2004
"There are many things about animal rightists that meat-eating, leather-wearing folk find hard to grasp. Often they seem contradictory. Dolphins deserve rights, cockroaches apparently do not. Or hypocritical. Fur protesters in leather shoes, Pam Anderson with curves first tested on animals, Chrissie Hynde in a cowboy hat ... they're everywhere!" (This article is categorised under Animal Fibres / Fur)

Ward, Simon
Unanimous verdict: Fur is back!
March 2000
"Everyone agrees, fur is back! From farmers and trappers to auction houses, designers, retailers and consumers, the renaissance of fur is being hailed. And it's not just the industry talking the market up."

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