The global fur trade has been declining for years but is still big business, in 2023 the total value of the global fur exports was and worth around US$ 3,4 billion.¹ Despite the tsunami of brands pledging to steer clear of fur, and the huge risks the fur industry brings to containing virus outbreaks like COVID and avian influenza, brands such as Fendi and Woolrich continue to sell it all around the world. Fur is also an incredibly cruel business that sees millions of foxes, minks, raccoon dogs, rabbits and other species kept in horrific conditions and brutally slaughtered for their fur every year. 

The vast majority of fur comes from animals that have suffered their entire lives in factory farms where they experience horrific cruelty and extreme stress, fear and suffering throughout their short lives.  

• Small, dirty, and barren cages make it impossible for animals to move freely and to express their normal behaviour.
• Deformities are common and wounds are left untreated and quickly become infected.
• Out of stress and frustration, animals display stereotypical and abnormal behaviours such as repetitive movements, fur chewing and self-injury.
• Handling methods include beating, strangling, and dragging animals.
• Cruel slaughter methods include gassing, electrocution, breaking the neck and in the worst case skinning animals alive.
• Selective breeding of ‘monster foxes’ for pathological obesity to maximise the size of their pelt.

For those animals trapped in the wild, the horrific use of steel-jaw leghold traps, body-gripping traps, underwater traps, and wire neck snares inflict extreme pain and suffering to animals. Animals may suffer for days, or die through blood loss, thirst, starvation, or predation before the hunter returns to check on the trap.  

The fur free movement has made remarkable progress in recent decades. Over 1,500 fashion labels, including Prada, H&M, Gucci and Adidas, for example, have committed to being fur-free as part of the international Fur Free Retailer Program and major cities and fashion events taking a stand against fur.

In the EU, Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia and Estonia have already banned fur farming; outside the EU, the United Kingdom, Norway, Serbia, the Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Japan have also banned fur production. In other countries, legislative proposals to ban fur farming are currently being considered or have already been announced. In Germany and Switzerland, the husbandry requirements are so high that fur farming would be unprofitable. In 2021, Israel became the first country in the world to ban the fur trade. Previously, the US state of California had already enacted such a ban, as well as several other US cities.

FOUR PAWS was born out of a determination to end fur farming – and this determination has only grown. We continue to support the highly successful Fur Free Retailer programme and, through our Wear it Kind programme, we are building a global movement of people, brands and designers committed to ensuring that no animal suffers in the name of fashion.

Here in the UK, on Tuesday 20th April 2021, FOUR PAWS UK Director Brian da Cal joined CEOs and Directors from HSI, Open Cages, Peta and RSPCA to hand in the 1 million signatures from the British public calling for the Prime Minster to fully embrace a Fur Free Britain and ban the sale of all fur items.

You can join the call for a #FurFreeBritain by signing our petition below.

FOUR PAWS  also continues to support the highly successful Fur Free Retailer program and, through our Wear it Kind  programme, we are building a global movement of people, brands and designers committed to ensuring that no animal suffers in the name of fashion.

• Take the Wear it Kind pledge and commit to never wearing animal fur
• Retailers respond to consumer pressure so speak, or write, to the management of any store selling fur
• Sign our joint petition with the Fur Free Alliance to end fur farming to prevent the next pandemic
• Find Fur Free Retailers, and use our Wear it Kind shopping guide to help you make animal-friendly fashion choices
• Join us in calling for a #FurFreeBritain