Activists
urge fur boycott
ANIMAL RIGHTS:
Noting the inhumane methods
used to slaughter and skin animals in China's fur
industry, activists called on people to avoid
buying the product
By
Chiu Yu-Tzu
STAFF
REPORTER
Thursday, Feb 03, 2005,Page 2
 |
A worker stuns an animal prior
to skinning it by slamming it against the ground
in this photo taken in Hebei Province, China,
last year.
PHOTO: ENVIRONMENT AND ANIMAL
SOCIETY OF
TAIWAN
|
China's role as the world's
largest exporter of fur garments, with direct
links to European and Asian countries, including
Taiwan, deserves sharp criticism because of its
lack of respect for life, animal rights activists
from the Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan
(EAST) said yesterday.
EAST released a report
on the Chinese fur industry in Taipei yesterday.
It is the first ever report from inside China's
fur farms and is based on field and desk research
carried out last year and last month.
EAST worked in
conjunction with groups in Switzerland and the UK,
including Swiss Animal Protection, Social Progress
for Animal Welfare and Care for the Wild
International.
At a press conference,
video footage taken during researchers' visits to
several farms in Hebei Province -- which were
raising from 50 to 6,000 animals -- was shown for
the first time to the media in Asia.
Animals such as
raccoons, foxes, and minks were shown being
stunned with repeated blows to the head or by
being pounded against the ground. The debilitated
animal was then laid on its back or hung
upside-down by its hind legs from a hook, and
skinning would begin, with a knife inserted in the
lower belly.
According to EAST's
director, Chen Yu-min (陳玉敏), a
significant number of animals remain conscious
during the process and struggle to defend
themselves to the end.
"We suspect that
consumers buying fur products don't know about the
brutality involved in the process. Innocent
animals suffer for the fashion vanity of humans,"
Chen said.
According to the
report, many animals remained alive after their
skin had been stripped off, with breathing,
heartbeat, as well as body and eyelid movements
all evident for five to 10 minutes.
The report says most
Chinese fur farms were established in the past 10
years. Wild species bred for fur include red
foxes, Arctic foxes, raccoons, dogs, mink and Rex
rabbits.
Wu Hung
(悟泓), president of EAST, said
that in the UK, fur farming has been banned on
humanitarian grounds. In all the farms visited in
China, however, animals were handled roughly and
were confined in rows of small wire cages, which
fall far short of EU regulations.
Most animals are killed
at about six months old, when they molt for the
first time.
Activists said a
growing number of international fur traders,
processors and fashion designers have gradually
shifted business to China, where cheap labor and
the absence of restrictive regulations have made
it easier to do business and widened profit
margins.
Activists said that in
the past few years designers have promoted fur in
everything from evening wear to sports wear. One
fur coat requires the fur of about 80 minks or 25
foxes.
Government statistics
in Taiwan suggest that the amount of fur products
imported from overseas has increased dramatically,
rising from 1,497kg in 2001 to 9,944kg in 2003.
Fur products imported
from China, meanwhile, have also increased
significantly. In 2003, more than 70 percent of
fur products imported were from China. Last year,
the percentage rose to 85 percent.
"Why do some consumers
in Taiwan, which sits in a sub-tropical area ...
need fur products to keep them warm?" Chen said.
Activists said
entertainers in show business should take the lead
to boycott fur products.
"In China's fur
industry, we don't see any spirit to help the weak
and aid the needy. Seeing this crime, Taiwan
should not become an accomplice," Mary Chen
(陳曼麗), chairwoman of the
Homemakers' Union and Foundation, said.
