Following the city of San Francisco’s fur ban, animal rights organization PETA is urging the Irish city of Cork, sister city to San Francisco, to follow its example.
“Since so many people are turning their backs on fur, PETA is calling on Cork to take a step forward and ban its sale,” said PETA Director Elisa Allen in a press release. “By going fur-free, the city would join San Francisco in sparing huge numbers of animals extreme suffering and an agonizing death on fur farms around the world.”
In a letter to Cork Lord Mayor Tony Fitzgerald, the animal rights organization noted that 50 million minks, foxes, chinchillas, and hamsters are killed for their fur each year. The majority of animals spend their short lives on fur farms, where they are vulnerable to neglect, starvation, dehydration, and extreme stress that often leads to self-mutilation.
Animals face slaughter methods such as having their necks broken, gassing, poisoning, and electric shock, all to keep the animal’s pelt intact. The organization also noted that the cruelties of the fur industry are not limited to fur farms, stating that raccoons, coyotes, and other animals are often captured in the wild using painful steel leg traps, leading some to chew through their leg in a desperate escape attempt.
Presently, the Lord Mayor of Cork has not responded to PETA’s plea.
Once considered a fashionable luxury, fur is beginning to fall out of favor with many, as more become aware of the reality of the fur industry. Earlier this year, Norway announced a total ban on fur farming after a 30-year-long battle. Meanwhile, major fashion magazine InStyle became the first fashion magazine to adopt a fur-free policy, expressing excitement that the fashion industry finally seemed to be embracing fur alternatives.
Similarly, top fashion designers and brands DKNY and Donna Karan, Gucci, John Galliano, Michael Kors, and Tom Ford are all either working towards ditching fur or have already completely eliminated animal fur from their collections.
Major fashion designer Donatella Versace has also turned her back on fur, expressing that she no longer wants to kill animals in the name of fashion. Last week, reality TV star Kim Kardashian announced she was ditching animal fur in favor of faux fur.
