LANGLEY ADVANCE

Site updated Friday, August 12, 2005 12:15 PM

Animal cruelty: Fur industry barbaric

Dear Editor,

While the spectacle of Fort Langley's fur brigade re-enactment [Smile awaits fur brigade, Aug. 2, Langley Advance] was simply a celebration of the past, fur truly does belong in the past.

The way animals are treated on modern-day fur farms truly reflects the barbaric brutality of the cave-man era. Animals living on these farms are kept in appalling conditions. Often, animals will suffer from mental stress due to confinement. Many animals will spend most of their lives pacing or circling, some even exert extreme behaviors: self-mutilating or cannibalizing other cage mates. They are offered no protection from the elements.

Animals spend months in such conditions before they are killed for their pelts. Farmers use inexpensive and inhumane methods of slaughter, methods that concern only the quality of the pelt, not the animal.

Methods such as suffocation, poisonous gas, and neck breaking are regularly used. However the most common method is genital electrocution, which entails a clip or rod to be attached to or inserted in the rectum or genital, and a clip or rod to be attached to or inserted in the mouth or ear. The animal is forced to endure the crippling pain of a heart attack while still conscious, as electricity runs through its body. Some animals are still alive when they are skinned.

There is simply no need for the fur industry in today's society. Animals needn't be tortured simply for fashion or elegance. Faux fur and leather are available at almost any store; they are cheaper and take less energy to produce.

For the animals, please support only faux fur options.

Ashley Fruno, Cloverdale