Skinned Alive - Stop the Torture!

"To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men." - Abraham Lincoln

I've known for a while - and been sickened by - the fact that cats and dogs are being sold for their fur in China. What I did not know of, till recently, was the horrific cruelty with which it is done.

Kept in narrow, crowded cages, animals are forced to watch, while their companions are strangled slowly, or skinned alive - techniques that are the most successful in keeping the furs from being ruined. Dogs are tied up and then stabbed in the groin - if they are lucky they will faint or die of blood loss before they are skinned. Cats are strangled very slowly to prevent damage to the fur, or have a hose thrust down their throats until they drown.

All in the name of fashion.

I will admit that I am not a vegetarian, and I do wear leather. I don't expect myself or others to stop eating meat. I DO however expect that my food is killed in a humane way. And frankly, though my logic may be faulty, I see a difference between cattle - which have been food animals for thousands of years - and cats and dogs, which we have bred to be friends and companions.

I have barely the stomach to describe more of this, so I will offer some links that do so:

Skinned Alive: The Trade in Cat and Dog Fur

De plågas - för att bli mode This article from the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet is the article which first brought this to my attention. If you'd like to translate it, I reccomend the Lexin Swedish-English Dictionary. Basically, the article speaks of the recent doccumentary aired in Sweden, and the fact that Sweden and Denmark are working to ban fur imports from China throughout the EU. The challenge for animal rights activists in Europe is that the entire EU must be in agreement before furs can be banned.

The Trade In Dog And Cat Fur

Looking Glass Global News - Animal Cruelty in the East

According to my research, the The US has recently banned the import, export and sale of products made from dog and cat fur. The question is, since these products are not labeled as such, but the names changed to something more palatable to the consumer, how do we know, without testing each and every fur?

What can you do?

• Refuse to buy products from China. In this case, economic means are the best way to voice our anger and disgust, and probably the only message the Chinese will listen to.
• Demand that the EU and the UK ban fur imports from China. This page from respectforanimals.org offers information on contacting them.
• Don't buy fur products - again, hit them in their wallet.
• Donate to or volunteer with animal rights groups. The Humane Society of the the United States is one such group. Many others exist.
• Spay or neuter your own pet. Many of the murdered animals in these articles were strays. I firmly believe that change starts in your own back yard, with your own actions and mindset.
• Make magick, in action, spell, and thought.

Blessings,

Lionrhod

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