HSUS catches major retailers selling dog fur

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007:

 

 

HSUS catches major retailers selling dog fur

 

NEW YORK CITY--The Macy's fashion store chain on December 22,

2006 withdrew from sale two styles of Sean John brand hooded jackets,

after mass spectrometry testing commissioned by the Humane Society of

the U.S. revealed that " imitation rabbit fur " and " faux fur " collars

were made from the fur of tanuki dogs, members of the domestic dog

family with raccoon-like markings, native to China and Korea.

" A Sean John snorkel jacket on sale for $237.99 at Macys.com

specifically identified the materials used as 'Nylon/faux fur/goose

down,' " HSUS said. " When investigators purchased the coat, they

found that the labels read 'Made in China' and 'genuine raccoon fur.' "

" I was completely unaware of the nature of this material. As

soon as we were alerted, the garments were pulled, " designer Sean

" Diddly " Combs said through publicist Hampton Carney. " I have

instructed our outerwear licensee to cease the production of any

garments using this material immediately. "

Macy's " has a long-standing policy against selling any dog or cat

fur, " spokesperson Orlando Veras told Associated Press business

writer Anne D'Innocenzio.

" Other mass spectrometry tests on a range of fur-trimmed

jackets revealed that most of the jackets labeled as 'raccoon' or

'coyote' from China in fact contain fur from " tanuki, said an HSUS

media release. " Of ten garments tested, nine tested positive " as

mislabeled tanuki fur, a violation of the federal Fur Products

Labeling Act.

Retailers selling mislabeled tanuki included, besides

Macy's, Burlington Coat Factory, Bloomingdale's, J.C. Penney, and

Saks Fifth Avenue. Among the designers and clothing lines found to

be using mislabeled tanuki were Baby Phat, Andrew Marc, MaxMara,

and Calvin Klein.

Burlington Coat Factory on December 11, 2006 agreed to pull

misleading signage from stores nationwide, and make refunds to

customers who inadvertently bought " faux " fur jackets with internal

labels that identified them as " Raccoon Fur of China Origin, " not

possible since raccoons do not live in China, or " Genuine Coyote

Fur of China Origin, " not possible because coyotes do not live in

China. Jackals, close kin to coyotes, do inhabit the Chinese

western desert.

" This is an industry-wide problem, " said HSUS president

Wayne Pacelle. " Our investigation demonstrates that retailers and

designers are not paying close enough attention to composition of the

fur trim they are selling. It's especially problematic when the fur

is sourced from China, where domestic dogs and cats and raccoon dogs

are killed in gruesome ways, even skinned alive. The safest course

of action is for Sean Combs and other designers and retailers to stop

using fur trim. That single act would solve the problem. "

Because tanuki occur in the wild, though the overwhelming

majority are raised in captivity for fur and dog meat, they are

considered wild animals under U.S. law.

" HSUS is also calling on Congress to amend the Dog and Cat

Protection Act--which bans the sale of dog or cat fur in the U.S.--to

include " tanuki, said HSUS spokesperson Karen L. Allanach, " since

the animals are so inhumanely killed and the species is similar to

domesticated dogs.

" It would be jarring to the public to shop in a marketplace

where dog and cat fur is banned, but coats labeled as 'raccoon dog'

are still legally sold, " Pacelle said.

 

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

Telephone: 360-579-2505

Fax: 360-579-2575

E-mail: anmlpepl

Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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