Oboy.
Well a friend of mine
spiderbabyx posted a YouTube slideshow on the "Reality of the Fur Industry" in her journal, that not only lit up her comments but prompted me to comment as well. The movie is HERE on her journal (I don't want that in my journal) if you want to see it. It did spark some fascinating discussion from a few people, especially a well spoken man of Native-American heritage so you may want to check out the comments there too.
The movie showed lots of pictures of foxes and minks from (supposed) fur-farms, with a few slides to tell you why it's horrible and heart wrenching. Below is where I weigh in and they're all gonna probably hate me because I didn't just jump on the wagon with them, but I thought I made some important points.
"*ahem*
I would like to point out that Americans are not the only consumers that feul the fur trade. Actually, Europe, the Balkans and several other places import and buy fur such as rabbit and other cheap furs because it is cheaper, longer lasting and warmer than most other products they can get their hands on. The GAP isn't everywhere folks.
Secondly, I want to point out that poor feeding conditions are not the only reason those creatures eat each other. Minks, foxes and other such RODENTS (just thought I'd remind people there)are extremely vicious predators and killers. That is most likely why there were so many shots of lonely animals in single cages- because if you put more than that together and the violent, dangerous rodents would tear eachother apart.
This leads to another point; MOST PEOPLE WOULD ONLY CARE BECAUSE THESE PICTURES MAKE THEM LOOK CUTE AND SAD. I'm sure there are plenty of puctures of murderers looking sad, lets save them too. What if they showed pictures of caged rats? "Oh, well those are rodents, vermin!" So are these. I was attacked by a fox once (it was more frightening than a fucking dog) and I've seen what minks can do to people, cats and dogs. These are not cute, cuddly, fuzzy pet-friends. They are rodents, vermin.
Also, many of those carcasses are used to make dog food and such, so it's not as though the bodies are piled up or in mass graves like a fucking mink Holocaust or something.
Lastly, I posit that this really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. The fur trade is not over-hunting the rodent population and fucking up and ecosystem. They are not polluting anymore than any other farm shit-wise, and the meat is a commodity sold to cunsumers. They are killing the animals in as humane a way as possible while still potecting their commodity (actually anal-elctrocution is MORE humane than the kind used to death row inmates because it is less likely to catch the body on fire and passes the current more directly to the heart and brain). I'm sure the fur-companies would love to free range their livestock of rodents, but they are a little harder to keep track of than sheep and cattle. Plus, would would you want an impromptue mink infestation in your town, killing your pets, should the "herd" wander too far? Of course not.
I know there are probably some terrible mills out there, but (at least in America) they are by far the exception to the rule and boycotting "Big Fur" will not help. It will only make clothing and other companies turn to those very same small, unregulated mills because YOU, the comsumer want them to stop using "Big Fur".
If you really care about animals, do investigative work in your hometown, find puppy and other mills then turn them in to the authorities. Vote on laws and officals who want to regulate fur and other animal industries with fairness and vigor, and want animal cruelty to have painful fines and actual jailtime. Start an animal or breed rescue out of your home, or donate time and money to shelters in your community. Volounteer to maintain public parks and wildlands, wetlands and woodlands in your area.
Donate time, money, food, space, materials, conserve water and land, recycle- just don't let self-righteous goofballs manipulate you with sad kitten pictures into bemoaning some "big-bad boogeyman company" instead of actually making a goddamned difference.
. . . Sorry, 'bout the rant. I respect most people's personal decisions on stuff like this, I just hate watching people get manipulated with pretty pictures and scare tactic misinformation by anyone- government, PETA, Pro-life extremists, etc."