In the past, J.Crew assured consumers that the company did not sell products made of animal fur. Sadly, J.Crew decided to start carrying fur in the fall of 2005.

Millions of animals, including rabbits, raccoons, and foxes, are painfully trapped in steel-jaw leg hold traps each year. Those who don’t freeze or starve are usually beaten to death or suffocated when the trapper arrives hours or days later. Animals held captive on fur farms spend their short lives crowded in wire cages where they suffer from inadequate water, disease, parasites, and stress. The animals are killed by anal electrocution, poisoning, or suffocation. The animals who don’t die immediately are skinned alive.

During its recent investigation, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) found that in China—where 80% of the world’s fur comes from—dogs and cats were being violently, mercilessly slaughtered for their fur. Cats are strangled inside their cages as other cats watch on. Dogs are roped around the neck with metal wires, then sliced across the groin. The wire noose cuts into their throats as they struggle in pain before finally losing consciousness. The only way to discern the source of the fur is by DNA testing, so J Crew is likely selling fur from these very animals.

However all animals killed for fur suffer in the same capacity. Recent video of an investigation of raccoon and fox fur farms in China revealed horrific cruelty. Investigators found workers attempting to stun animals by repeatedly slamming them against the ground or bashing their heads with clubs. Such unreliable methods left many animals fully conscious, visibly blinking and breathing for as long as ten minutes after their fur was ripped from their bodies. 


What You Can Do


Please contact J Crew and POLITELY state that you are saddened to see the introduction of fur into its collection. Please urge the company to become fur-free as top fashion retailers H&M and Forever 21 recently have. Let them know that you won’t buy while animals die. 


Millard S. Drexler, Chair & CEO 
J Crew Group, Inc.
770 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
1-800-562-0258
contactus@jcrew.com