fake fur and leather

[Guest guest]

Dear Marguerite:

 

That's a very good question: should we oppose vinyl shoes because

they look similar to leather? I do not that there is an intrinsic

moral difference between killing one animal and another. The big

difference between fur and leather is that there isn't what's called

a " billboard effect " with leather like there is with fur. Being made

of leather doesn't make a pair of shoes a fashion statement. Leather

shoes might make a fashion statement, but it would be due to the

design and not the materials unless it was leather from exotic

animals.

 

There isn't an organized effort to take on the leather industry,

because leather is still a byproduct of meat-eating. PETA began a

campaign against Indian leather a few years back, because of the high

level of cruelty involved in the transport and slaughter of cows in

India, but they dropped the campaign after a short time.

 

I'm not claiming that leather is benign. Even though leather is

largely a by-product of meat-eating, the sale of cow skins raises

the profit margin for the slaughter industry. If there was reduced

market for the skins, they would have to charge more for the meat,

which might cause consumers to buy less of it. But at this time,

if we allow ourselves to equate fur with leather in public debate,

we'll lose the fight against fur and will make no measurable impact

on the leather industry. As meat-eating decreases in the world,

leather will become a more central issue.

 

Kim

 

 

 

>Hi Kim and all

>

>I bought an item for a younger family member that was obviously

>Trimmed with fake fur trim (it looks nylon-type material or something

>similar)

>and I thought it looked nice. But as I said it was obviously not fur.

>

>Last year though, there were some weird looking " cat on the doormat "

>silly

>presents one could purchase that looked like a cat curled up (face and

>all)

>to put on or next to the doormat. I looked carefully at these (they were

>in

>a garden gift shop of all places) and I believe the fur was real.

>Someone

>saw me looking at one and said that they thought the fur was real. These

>were

>made in China I believe. The lady who spoke to me thought it was rabbit

>fur

>but I had trouble with that since the colours were not the colours that

>rabbits

>normally are. The fur looked more exotic maybe cat or maybe a different

>animal.

>I alerted some people who had also seen these items for sale and many

>letters

>of complaint were written to various outlets selling these items.

>

>I understand what you mean about fake fur trim where the fake fur looks

>like fur. However I feel it is a little extreme to say we can have no

>trim

>at all that is in any way soft to touch on a garment. I have not come

>across

>really fake trim that doesn't look really fake. I know there is a shop

>in

>Sydney? that sells vinyl shoes that look similar to leather. Vegans shop

>there.

>I wonder if you would oppose vinyl shoes because they look similar to

>leather?

>

>Kind regards,

>

>Marguerite

>

 

--

Kim Bartlett, Publisher of ANIMAL PEOPLE Newspaper

Postal mailing address: P.O. Box 960, Clinton WA 98236 U.S.A.

CORRECT EMAIL ADDRESS IS: <ANPEOPLE

Website: http://www.animalpeoplenews.org/ with French and Spanish

language subsections.