Sportswear company all:sports are currently selling coats trimmed with real raccoon fur.
Raccoon Dogs are primarily bred in factory farms, in the usual bare wire cages with no provisions to allow them to carry out natural behaviours. In the wild Raccoon Dogs hibernate over the winter, something they cannot do on the fur farm. Their paws are not suited to a life living on wire mesh and injuries occur from the coldness of the wires during winter. Fur farming and trapping is banned in numerous countries due to the intense cruelty.
Raccoon Dogs are killed by electrocution. Steel clamps are inserted in the mouth and anus and the animals electrocuted. A study published in a fur industry journal revealed that over the four- year period that the breeding of Raccoon Dogs was studied in Poland between 17.1% and 35.1% of the Dog pups died or were bitten to death.
The Raccoon Dog is obviously a member of the Canidae Family, and the thought of dogs being killed for their fur fills most people with horror. One should also be aware that the fur trade is notorious for falsely labelling items made from the fur of domestic cats and dogs, and indeed one of the false names given to domestic dog fur is Asiatic raccoon
dog.
Please send complaints to all:sports, asking them to remove real fur from their stores. The fur trim can actually be detached from the hood so they could still sell the coats without the fur.
all:sports
Horsfield Way, Bredbury, Stockport, SK6 2RT
Freephone: 0800 716 205
E-mail: cservices@allsports.co.uk
PO Box 38, Manchester, M60 1NX
caft@caft.org.uk www.caft.org.uk