The truth behind the fur trade (From News Shopper)

The truth behind the fur trade

10:41am Tuesday 2nd March 2004 in Letters

RE: ANIMAL fur (He Says/She Says, February 18).

Rupert Smythe says it is illogical to talk about anything vaguely approaching equality between humans and animals.

Words such as inequality were used by the Nazis to justify their extermination of mentally and physically handicapped adults and children, homosexuals, Jews, Poles, gipsies and other categories of people they considered to be below them.

Women were considered not equal of men, and black people were considered not equal to whites until the suffragettes and anti-Apartheid protestors showed how wrong such views were.

Rachel Bradman describes the suffering of the animals killed for fur but the fur-buying celebrities and public are mainly unaware a lot of the fur in the shops today is not only from the cuddly bunny rabbit that will soon be adorning Easter cards and eggs but also from domestic cats and dogs that are skinned alive in front of each other in China.

Of course the labels on the items do not specify cat and dog fur because the importers of such items into the UK know the so-called animal-loving British public may draw the line at wearing the dead skin of Tiddles or Fido.

Pamela Kinnunen Email address supplied