Humane Society: Some 'Faux Fur' Is Just Dog Hair (AP)

http://kdka.com/topstories/topstories_story_054093108.html

Feb 23, 2007 9:00 am US/Eastern
Humane Society: Some 'Faux Fur' Is Just Dog Hair

(AP) WASHINGTON That fur trim on your jacket that you think is fake? It might be dog hair.

An animal advocacy group says its investigation has turned up coats - some with designer labels, some at higher-end retailers - with fur from man's best friend. Some retailers were set scrambling to pull the coats from shelves, take them off Web sites and even offer refunds to consumers.

The Humane Society of the United States said it purchased coats from reputable outlets, such as upscale Nordstrom, with designer labels - Andrew Marc, Tommy Hilfiger, for example - and found them trimmed with fur from domestic dogs, even though the fur was advertised as fake.

"It's an industry-wide deception," said Kristin Leppert, the head of the Human Society's anti-fur campaign.


FULL story at link.

Dalmations may make good coats.

I have a winter parka with a hood trimmed in *faux fur*

God I hope it IS faux :(

How would a person find out?

They used scientific methods for the test, so I don't know for sure although I'd try smelling the fur and seeing if I could look at the skin the fur is attached to without damaging the coat.

to open one of the fur seams -- just and inch or so in an inconspicuous spot should do the trick. Look at the backing of the fur trim -- it will either be fabric (fake) or skin. You can then just slip stich the seam back up very easily.

But thanks I will try to force myself to check!

like hair burning, it's real. Fake fur is synthetic. It will melt and have a chemical smell.

Please let us know what you find out!

then burn it with a match. You should be able to tell the difference between the smell of burning hair and synthetic.

I'd be glad to give them the fur that I get out of my vacuum cleaner every week from HippieDog Hank and Ray Charles, if it keeps someone else from harming a furrbaby for profit.

:(

short haired dogs don't shed much - NOT!

i'm so glad we are in so in debt to a country that has such enlightened business practices & produces so many high quality goods that americans could never make ourselves.

like the mass forced euthanasia of dogs because they are worried about a rabies epidemic, rather than vaccinating them. I've signed more petitions on this than I can count...;(

one wishes otherwise.

I don't know what else we can do. If groups like HSUS are working on this, however futile, it is important that they get as much support as possible.:shrug:

What sticks in my mind about China is a trip that my parents made there in 1986. My father was a great traveler and wanted to see the country. But my mother, who is not even a huge animal rights supporter, was terribly upset and shaken because they sold dogs there, in the marketplace, for food. My mother didn't even see any dogs, only the cages, since they got there later in the day, but she said it was still pretty awful.;(

My vet has studied there, since he is certified to perform acupuncture, has done it on two of my dogs and my cat, over the years, and he has told me that they're progressing. But from what I've read and seen on-line, it's still pretty horrific there for pets.x(

The article was on MSNBC. The line of coats is A.N.A. and St. Johns Bay. The animals are called raccoon dogs, and yes, they are part of the dog family but their coats have the coloring of raccoons; thus, the name. The dogs are clubbed and skinned alive, many of them fully aware of what's happening. This is happening in China, and JCP gets the goods from there.

I don't have the link to the MSNBC article. But the spokesperson, based at corporate in Plano, Texas, was very arrogant in her attitude. She said they were aware, and they will not stop selling the coats because they were a popular seller.

I will never buy from JCP again until they pull all these garments from their warehouses, either destroy them or send them to impoverished countries which need whatever they can take for protection against the cold, and then apologize to America for deceiving us. But then I may never buy from them again, anyway. What they've done makes me sick, because they know how these animals are being killed.

"Skinned alive for JC Penney." That should be their new slogan.

People keep buying fake fur coats knowing that companies can lie without being punished. Faux fur can mean anything.

Now they are using dogs, hopefully fewer people will buy "faux" fur coats.

He warned us. The undercover video from China he commissioned was all over BBC News a few months ago, but it was too awful for me to watch.

You have no idea anymore.

I don't know how much good it will do, but I sure signed, so I'm posting it here...

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/730978728

#1,231.

And you signed right after me.:-)

I've been a vegetarian much of my life. It's very upsetting to know something of mine has a trim that may not be faux.

But I sign so many... I found this one in response to this thread. This is obviously a horrible thing, but I think that writing to JC Penney would be the best option. I intend to, though I've never bought anything resembling faux fur from them, but I do have a JC Penney card and receive their e-mails, so I think that I have a right to tell them that I am outraged by this and will boycott them unless they stop this immediately. Anyone has the right to do this, but I am a constituent, so to speak. And I'm pretty much of a vegetarian and have two dogs, as well.:-(

Mine just shed a bit. This is serious stuff and HSUS and ASPCA have damn good reason to protest, as well as the rest of us animal lovers, and anybody else, for God's sake. I can't think of anybody who would approve of this atrocity, and people should be informed that this is what's going on...:-(