Cat Fur

Allegedly cat fur is being produced in Belgium under the noses of MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) while the MEPs proudly declare that there will be a ban on the importation (mainly from China) of cat and dog fur into Europe generally starting 2009. Several countries in the EU already ban the importation. Although how effective it is, is another business.

The UK can't even control immigration so how will it control the importation of fur that is misleadingly labeled?

The alleged farming of cat and dog fur in Belgium (Brussels) is not news (it was announced over a year ago) but it needs to be pushed out over and over again if things are to change. The apathy of the European Parliament in banning cat and dog fur is highlighted by the fact that the US banned it in 2000. And to allow the fur trade to thrive on the doorstep of the European Parliament is an insult (the preparatory meetings and complementary, non-plenary sessions of the Parliament take place in Brussels) to us all.

It would seem that for some time dogs and cats have been going missing from the streets of Brussels and Ghent. People have lost their pets. Of course they aren't sure how but there is circumstantial evidence.

There is also some hard evidence in the form of a videotape of a fur traders discussing the business made by the Humane Society International (HSI).

There is a lack of will to change things. It will change slowly. Far too slowly for the 2 million cats and dogs that are brutally killed in China alone.

It is alleged that the cats are skinned alive to ensure the fur is of better quality. I'd like to do the same to the people who are doing this to see how they like it.

The photographs are to grab attention are not illustrations of the brutality carried out on cats and dogs (obviously you can't get photographs of cats being skinned alive). They are (top) copyright Urtica and (bottom) flashman reproduced under creative commons.

The fur in the top picture may come from a feral cat but probably not and the blood in the bottom picture comes from a human.