With so many attractive and sensible alternatives available, fur is simply unnecessary. Even purchasing the tiniest bit of fur trim supports a cruel industry.
Every year, more than 50 million animals are violently killed in the name of "fashion." Some fall victim to barbaric traps. Others spend the entirety of their lives in grim conditions in fur farms across the globe before being slaughtered. Another source of fur is Canada's government-sanctioned seal slaughter, in which hundreds of thousands of seals, many just weeks old, are brutally killed. This is the reality that the fur industry wants so desperately to hide from the buying public.
With the help of compassionate consumers, Born Free USA works to end the senseless suffering caused by the fur industry.
Since no market or product can profit without customers, we focus our efforts in the fight against fur on consumer education — letting people know that the way they spend their money makes a difference in the lives of animals. We provide valuable educational materials about how to see through the fur industry's marketing ploys, how to determine if the fur on store shelves is real or faux, how to most effectively speak out against the fur trade, and how to gently educate others. We're also a major partner in an international coalition, the Fur Free Alliance, which gets the message out to countless consumers around the world that compassion is always in style.
The fur industry works hard to mislead consumers about fur and fur trim. It fights against labeling laws that could help shoppers make informed decisions about what to buy. Its aggressive public relations efforts falsely claim that fur is a "fabric" and that fur trim is a "byproduct." The fur trade will say anything to persuade consumers to dissociate its product from the actual animals who die to create it.
Deceptive fur industry marketing has led to a surge in the popularity of fur trim, now commonly found on inexpensive clothing, accessories, and even toys, and to increased markets overseas.
But just because there is a small bit of "fluffy pink trim" on a jacket cuff or scarf tassel, doesn't mean it isn't the same grisly product of animal suffering and death. Designers who choose to use fur are relying on novel ways to incorporate fur into their clothing lines and designs. Fur is now being dyed bright colors, braided or beaded for a unique texture or exotic look, or clipped down to imitate the feel of velvet fabric.
Informed consumers will choose compassion and forego fur. More and more markets are embracing the ideology of ethical consumerism, as can be seen in the popularity of products ranging from hybrid cars to free trade coffee to sweat-shop free clothing and cosmetics and household products not tested on animals — all of which are experiencing measurable success. Fashion will follow suit as consumers refuse to buy apparel containing even the smallest bit of fur or fur trim.
The grim reality remains — fur kills animals. The fur trade may work hard to peddle its wares. But we will work even harder to shine a spotlight on the practices of this cruel industry and to spread the word that there's simply no excuse for wearing fur. We're helping consumers use the unique power that only they have — the power to close down a cruel and unnecessary industry.
Compassion is always in fashion. Choosing to not wear fur or fur trim is simple — and saves animals' lives.
Castle tv show castle spoilers ahead!!: CASTLE is a great detective drama on ABC with Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic. I only became a fan this year, but I speedily have caught up on all season one episodes, and all season two episodes that have aired thus far. I’m kind of gifted, you could say. Or at least I take this TV stuff pretty seriously.
Following a string of emergency room fatalities and the current controversy over delayed surgeries, the head of Quebec's College of Physicians said yesterday it would take a miracle to revive the ailing health care system.
In an open letter, Dr. Yves Lamontagne said that listening to politicians and commentators rattle on about the provincial health care system crisis makes him want to resuscitate Montreal saint-to-be Brother André - and then have him named Quebec health minister so he could perform more miracles.
Despite a billion dollars injected into the system every year for the last decade, "plus ça change, plus c'est pareil," Lamontagne said. (The more it changes, the more it stays the same.)
After ducking questions on the crisis earlier in the day, Quebec Health Minister Yves Bolduc said yesterday afternoon that when it comes to the health system, some people expect miracles.
Speaking in Montreal, he said Quebec's busy ERs had 3.4 million visitors last year and most got excellent care.
Lamontagne's comments came within hours of published reports that Quebec's director of emergency services had resigned a month before his contract was to be renewed. Two years ago, the province had asked Dr. Pierre Savard to come up with ways to cut wait times for emergency services.
Savard has been replaced on a temporary basis by ER physician Daniel Lefrançais, of Pierre Boucher Hospital in Longueuil.
Savard's exit comes at a bad time. ER occupation rates have climbed to 200 per cent. Several deaths have been linked to crowding and staff shortages that have crippled ERs since last month.
- Last Friday, Jean-Guy Pitre, 65, died after waiting six months for surgery to fix a blocked aorta. A lack of beds in the intensive care unit delayed his operation.
- Mariette Fournier, 86, died Feb. 23 after spending four days in a corridor of Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital's ER.
- Mieczyslaw Figiel, 75, died in the Maisonneuve ER hallway. He was having trouble breathing, but his family couldn't flag down a nurse.
Yesterday, Montreal Island's hospital occupation rate was at 123 per cent - or 629 patients in ERs that have gurneys for 512 patients.
Bolduc would not comment on Figiel's death.
As for Pitre, who died after waiting months for surgery, Bolduc said: "It's not acceptable that someone dies while on a waiting list."
Health officials are working on relieving the bottleneck within the next few weeks, particularly at "problem" hospitals, by opening more beds in nursing homes and rehabilitation centres, he said.
Asked if it's to be expected that patients die in hospital hallways, Bolduc said: "We want as few as possible."
People should keep going to ERs, where they will be evaluated and given priority care according to need, he added.
Who is responsible when patients die for lack of services at overcrowded ERs? he was asked. "It's not a question of responsibility, but of working together to avoid this issue," Bolduc replied.
Bolduc said he wouldn't hesitate to take his parents to Maisonneuve-Rosemont or any other Montreal emergency room because they are equipped with excellent personnel who provide adequate patient care.
But Régine Laurent, head of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec, representing 58,000 nurses and health workers, has called on Bolduc to justify the current crisis. "Health- care workers are exhausted, the ERs are overflowing, wait times are growing and tragic deaths occur," Laurent said.
Upset by the lack of manpower, nurses' union consultant Jean Parris said Quebec isn't doing enough to relieve the nursing shortage.
"The government is interested in balancing its budget more than in giving health care," Parris said.
Lamontagne's letter spared Bolduc, but lashed out at politicians of every stripe, civil servants, health agencies, health professionals, unions and journalists for not coming forth with solutions "for this crisis, which resembles every other crisis."
Quebec would have taken a huge step forward if various officials had not failed to implement a recommendation from the now decade-old Clair Commission on health care, which was to create an arm's- length provincial health agency, Lamontagne said.
