FW: ADVOCATES FOR ANIMALS' LATEST NEWS RELEASE - CAT AND DOG FUR IMPORTS TO BE BANNED - Monday 20 November 2006

[Guest guest]

Great news and this will certainly reduce or end the skinning of cats and

dogs for their fur.

No demand - no production. Till the ban comes into force, Europeans must

vote with their

pocket books and boycott cat and dog fur items.

 

S. Chinny Krishna

Life Member of Advocates for Animals

 

 

News [news]

Monday, November 20, 2006 6:53 PM

news

ADVOCATES FOR ANIMALS' LATEST NEWS RELEASE - CAT AND DOG FUR

IMPORTS TO BE BANNED - Monday 20 November 2006

 

 

NEWS RELEASE

Monday 20 November 2006 – For Immediate Use

 

 

 

CAT AND DOG FUR IMPORTS TO BE BANNED

 

 

Advocates for Animals welcomes the announcement this morning that the

European Commission intends to ban the import of cat and dog fur into the

EU.

 

 

 

Dog and cat fur is used in a variety of products including coats, hats, trim

on other garments such as gloves, stuffed animals and pet toys. In some

items made using dog and cat fur are openly on sale, but in countries where

the use of these animals is less popular it is often not clearly labelled,

or mis-labelled. Dog and cat fur items have been found on sale in the

Netherlands, France, Germany. The UK Government has no idea how much is on

sale here.

 

 

 

Most dog and cat fur comes from countries in the Far East, especially China,

and investigations have revealed animals kept in horrific conditions and

brutally slaughtered. Every year, about 2 million cats and dogs are thought

to be killed for their fur - 5,000 each day.

 

 

 

Some dogs and cats are bred on farms. Others are rounded up and sold for

their skins. An estimated 500,000 cats are raised only for their pelts.

German Shepherds are the most commonly killed dogs in China as their fur

resembles that of wild animals such as coyote or raccoon.

 

 

 

Investigations by international animal protection groups such as the Humane

Society International have revealed horrific slaughter methods: a dog tied

up tightly by its neck with wire to a gate before being stabbed in the groin

and left to bleed to death; cats killed by being hung by the neck from a

piece of rope that tightened as the cats struggled causing them to

eventually suffocate; cats being hung from a wire while water was poured

down their throats until they eventually drowned. Cats may still be alive

when they are skinned as preserving a skin in one piece optimises its value.

 

 

 

The governments in France, Italy, Greece, Belgium and Denmark have all

banned the trade in dog and cat fur. In 2000, the US banned its import,

export and sale. It is believed that since the US ban was introduced, the

trade been diverted to Europe, increasing the need for an EU trade ban. Last

year, 364 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) signed up to a MEP

Written Declaration supporting such a ban.

 

 

 

In announcing the proposed ban, Markos Kyprianou, Commissioner for Health

and Consumer Protection, said: “The message that we have received from EU

consumers has been loud and clear. They do not find it acceptable to farm

cats and dogs for their fur, nor do they want products containing such fur

sold on the European market. The EU ban we are proposing today will mean

that consumers can rest assured that they are not inadvertently buying

products containing cat or dog fur. In view of the broad political support

for this measure I am confident that the European Parliament and the Council

will ensure its adoption at the earliest opportunity.”

 

Advocates’ Political Director, Libby Anderson, said: “We congratulate the

Commission on this proposal. While we oppose all use fur because of the

cruelty involved in the trade, the use of cats and dogs is something that

people find particularly repugnant. The difficulty of relying on individual

member states to introduce their own legislation is that there can be

different regulatory approaches. A uniform EU ban on marketing and trading

in dog and cat fur will make the legal situation clear – and of course an EU

Regulation will apply directly in all Member States, so there can be no

divergence from the obligation to ban these products of cruelty.”

 

 

 

-ENDS –

 

 

 

Notes to Editors

 

For further interviews or information please contact Advocates’ Political, Libby Anderson, on 0131 225 6039 (ext 110)

 

 

 

The European Commission’s Press Release can be found at:

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/1586 & format=HT

ML & aged=0 & language=EN & guiLanguage=en

 

 

 

Advocates for Animals is the Scottish member of the Fur Free Alliance, which

is an international coalition working to stop the killing and exploitation

of animals for their fur. See www.infurmation.com.

 

 

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