HSUS
While several European countries have already prohibited the sale of dog and cat fur within their borders, 15 agricultural ministers from the European Union (EU) recently met in Brussels to discuss the possibility of a more comprehensive ban across the entire EU.
On Monday, November 17, the Danish delegation to the European Union asked the Agriculture Council ministers to look into a ban on the import and marketing of dog and cat fur and skins in the 15-member European Union (which will expand to 25 members in 2004). The European Commission representative to the council, while supportive of Danish delegation's position, noted that it's up the individual EU nations to legislate the cat and dog fur trade, but said that the topic would likely be addressed at a conference of the International Office of Epizooties, scheduled for February 2004.

While inconclusive, the Agriculture Council meeting was the latest in a flurry of activity over the unfolding dog and cat fur controversy in the EU, which has already led Italy, Denmark, France, and Greece to adopt bans.

The European Union's growing awareness of the dog and cat fur issue, as well as its increasing reaction to it, is due in no small part to the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International (HSI), which have been investigating the trade for years now. In fact, HSI's February 2003 investigation in Belgium, the governmental home of the European Union, may have been the tipping point in the whole affair.

But some background first. More than four years ago, in an 18-month investigation, HSUS undercover investigators documented the Asian trade in cat and dog fur and skins. Using video, still photos and forensic techniques, they learned that more than two million cats and dogs (at least 5,400 a day) are raised under deplorable conditions and then brutally killed by strangulation or stabbing solely for their furs and skins. (The killing methods have been known to be inefficient; some animals are skinned while still alive.) There were three primary markets for the fur: The United States, Europe and Russia.

The documentation, along with examples that showed fur and skins were on sale in American retail shops, triggered a public outcry as well as congressional action. In 2000, the United States instituted a comprehensive ban on the import, export, sale and production of cat and dog fur and skins. (While HSUS investigators continue to search for gaps in this law, they have found no more cat and dog fur on sale in the U.S. since the federal ban was enacted.)

Shifting Markets

The U.S. ban, of course, had predictable consequences: Asian warehouses, already piled high with pelts, increasingly turned to the lucrative markets of Europe. HSI investigators were close on their heels. Although the trade likely went on long before the U.S. ban, investigators documented that cat and dog fur and skins were on sale in Austria, Germany, France, Spain, Denmark, Italy, and Belgium. The Netherlands-based animal protection organization, Bont voor Dieren, also found evidence that the trade was flourishing within its own borders.

Investigators unearthed a wide variety of items made from cat and dog fur: full-length coats, linings in boots and gloves, cat figurines, pompons on sweaters, hair bows dyed to look like faux fur, and homeopathic products allegedly to help relieve arthritis. What's more, investigators found that the items were fraudulently labeled, not labeled at all or dyed to look like faux fur.

The bogus labels would prove to be important as European Union bureaucrats initially denied they had a problem, and then denied they had authority to do anything about it when the evidence became overwhelming.

However, the majority of agriculture ministers believe that the European Commission (the legislative drafting body of the EU) has the authority under internal market regulations to stop consumer fraud to protect citizens—and given the widespread mislabeling of dog and cat fur in the EU, this is consumer fraud on a massive scale. Yet the commission has dodged this question time and again, stating that when it comes to moral and ethical issues, each country has to legislate its own decisions.

Finally, after HSI pressure, legislators' demands, media coverage, and public concerns, the commission acknowledged the something "possibly" needed to be done about the trade.

The Tipping Point

The tipping point in this gradual EU acknowledgement and action was likely the Belgium investigation in February 2003. HSI investigators found cat fur on sale as blankets, pelts and full-length coats in three Belgian cities. In undercover footage, one furrier, without a moment's hesitation, said that some of the fur may have been "farmed" in Belgium. What's more, the furrier added, some may have come from lost or stray pets.

The European public could hardly believe its ears. It was bad enough that dog and cat fur came from Asia; it was even worse that such products might have actually been produced within the EU. The story whipped through the media and was covered as far away as the Philippines.

The Belgian members of the European Parliament (MEPs) pledged to take action, and they have. MEP Nelly Maes has filed the evidence with the Belgian government and is co-sponsor of an EU Parliament measure seeking a ban.

Through HSI's lobbying and coordinated campaign work with other groups, the European Union's initial denial has turned into action. In 2001, Italy was the first country to implement a regulation banning cat and dog fur and skins from its shops. In the summer of 2003, Denmark passed its own law, and on November 7, the French government signed a regulation that bans cat and dog fur and orders customs officials to enforce the law. And just recently, Greece became the latest country to adopt a ban.

Sweden is currently debating a ban, and the United Kingdom has announced it will institute a voluntary labeling scheme for all fur (with the caveat that should anyone find cat and dog fur on sale in the UK, it will then ban it). While our investigators have easily found cat and dog fur on sale throughout Europe, they have not yet unearthed evidence of any trade in the UK, although they suspect it exists there.

And in a strong show of unity, ten ministers of agriculture from France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Greece and the United Kingdom say they want a ban.

A Matter of Political Will

Meanwhile, MEPs led by Struan Stevenson have filed a Written Declaration calling for an EU ban on the import, export, sale, and production of cat and dog fur in Europe. Parliament rules require that the Written Declaration must have 314 signatures, or slightly more than half of the MEPs, no later than December 22, 2003, for it to become the official position of the European Parliament. Official adoption of the declaration would compel the European Commission to address the matter.

British MEP Stevenson, who has worked alongside HSI on this issue for several years, is pushing hard to gain enough signatures before time runs out. Stevenson has four co-sponsors in his signature campaign: MEPs from Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece and the United Kingdom. As of November 20, 214 MEPs have signed the declaration.

The EU Minister of Trade Pascal Lamy has said that he does not believe such a ban would trigger any World Trade Organization (WTO) problems as long as it is a balanced regulation—meaning that exports as well as imports of cat and dog fur and skins be prohibited.

How far this goes in the European Union will depend largely on political will. The central question is whether the European Commission is willing to respond to a problem that has become increasingly embarrassing for the EU government, which has been criticized by national governments for its inaction as evidence mounts about the widespread availability of dog and cat fur.

Until a ban is put into place across the European Union, the primary victims will continue to be those companion animals that we call "family members" back in America. (Unwitting consumers will continue to be caught in the crosshairs, too, as well as retailers who have no idea what they're selling.)

Until a ban is in place, at least 5,400 dogs and cats will die each day in certain parts of Asia, where these animals are mere products in a ghastly business that has spread across Europe