On Tuesday, February 13th, IDA joined animal rights advocates around the world in exposing the horrors of the Chinese fur industry, where animal welfare laws are non-existent and dogs and cats are slaughtered for their fur, sometimes skinned while still fully conscious. As an active member of the International Anti-Fur Coalition, we were proud to do our part for the annual global day of action against the Chinese fur trade by hosting demonstrations at the Chinese Consulates in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Houston. Other members of the coalition held protests in other major U.S. cities and in more than 26 countries around the world.
A story on ABC News last week shed new light on the sale of dog and cat fur in the U.S. While it has been against the law to sell products made from dog or cat fur in this country since 2000, ABC News reported that an undercover investigation revealed that many major department stores (including Macy's, J.C. Penney's and Neiman Marcus) are selling jackets made from dog fur that are labeled as being faux fur or the fur of another animal species. Watch this news story online.
Part of the reason for this is that there is a loophole in the Fur Products Labeling Act of 1951 that exempts garments with less than $150 worth of fur from having to list the name of the species, the manufacturer, the country of origin and other pertinent information on clothing labels. Congressman Jim Moran of Virginia recently introduced a bill called the Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act which aims to protect consumers and animals by outlawing the import of fur from raccoon dogs and requiring all garments trimmed with fur to be labeled, regardless of value.
What You Can Do
Please "Take Action" now to encourage your Representative to support and cosponsor the Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act. Feel free to edit the sample letter to your liking and print it out as a letter to mail. You can also contact your elected officials by phone and postal mail. Get mailing addresses and phone numbers for your elected officials.
