Welcome to 2015 and our first Fur In The News roundup of the year! Coming up: all the best news articles in January.

While we got all caught up in the trapping and farming side of things (pardon the pun!) – Women’s Wear Daily reminded us that fur is all over the streets of the fashion capitals of the world.

And the international media sure have caught on to the fur story. The Financial Times, The Telegraph, Harper's Bazaar, Toronto Life, and Style Caster all posted articles questioning whether it is acceptable to wear fur. We are thrilled to see that all of these articles are leaning towards a YES!

Education made news in the fur world this month. The CBC did a feature on an Ontario couple who are teaching their children to trap and skin animals, which got a lot of attention and comments. One of the US's most prestigious art schools, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), has launched its first program for fur designers. This is a significant confirmation of the importance of fur in fashion, and other schools are expected to follow SAIC’s example. We've also learnt of a few groups and courses teaching trapping skills to the young, including the No-Name Gang in Wisconsin, a fur-handling workshop in Montana, this trapping course in Ontario, and this friendly trapper who wants to teach his trade to whoever is interested.

The auctions are picking up - seal skin did well in Copenhagen, Nova Scotia mink farmers are optimistic, and Northern Fur Harvesters are hoping for a stable 2015.

While the UK may be known for being quite anti-fur, we are thrilled to see its two leading ladies, Kate Moss and Queen Elizabeth, are both fans of this beautiful, luxurious product.

And let's not forget the environmental argument: here is a great article highlighting that the "cruelty-free" option is rarely the environmentally friendly one.

We featured a few "day in the life" articles, like this one about a wildlife officer in Ohio, these trappers in Missouri, and this local veteran who spends his time trapping beavers.

Here are some interesting facts we learnt this month:

1. Beavers are now responsible for global warming! Ok, maybe not the ONLY ones responsible, but still ...
2. You can knit mink (and make mink yarn.)
3. The National Museum of Denmark is putting on a major exhibition on fur. Entitled Fur: An Issue of Life and Death, it is on until Feb. 22. Here's your excuse to visit Copenhagen!

And the antis continued their hypocritical tirade against us nature-loving fur folk. Here are a few of the quotes summing up their rude and often-threatening attitude towards us:

"What I don't respect are hypocrites who rail about 'killing poor, defenseless animals' while chowing down on a juicy sirloin or fried chicken leg. Until they wipe the grease off their chin and start living on tofu and bean sprouts, they should button it up." From an article in the Lebanon Democrat.

"These are the same people who supposedly care so much about animals," Chaney said. "But they'd rather kill a chef than a duck." From a chef who likes to cook with foie gras, from the Huffington Post.

"Unless you’re going to be vegan and not wear a leather belt, you can’t be hypocritical about wearing fur." A great article from the Edmonton Journal including some good fur coat storage tips.

"I hope you (expletive) die a miserable death (expletive) ..." A fantastic opinion piece from the FDL Reporter explaining that death threats have no place online. We agree!

But let's end this round up with something fun: proof that people who wear fur are fun. Cheers to this guy from Winnipeg!

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One of America's most prestigious art schools, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), has launched its first program for fur designers. This is a significant confirmation of the importance of fur in fashion, and other schools are expected to follow SAIC's example.

The prestige attached to SAIC's endorsement of fur is huge. In a 2002 survey by the National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University, SAIC was named the “most influential art school” in the United States.

In 2012, US News & World Report ranked SAIC the tied second-best graduate program for fine arts in the U.S., and in 2013, The Global Language Monitor ranked SAIC as the 5th best college in the U.S., the highest ever for an art or design school in a general college ranking.

SAIC's move can also be seen as recognition of fur's current prominence on the fashion scene.

Hailing as one of the biggest trends of the 2015 season, fur had a major presence this year on the runways at New York, London, Milan and Paris Fashion Week. Not only did fur dominate, appearing in over 70% of designer collections, but it also took over the streets as major bloggers and editors from all over the world showed off their fur street style.

Design students from all over the world are noticing and becoming more interested in using fur. It’s important that programs are in place for them to learn the material at their chosen school. With so many opportunities in the fur industry, students in these programs would learn to sew, design, and embrace what fur can do for their collections.

A Collaborative Effort

SAIC's decision to add the new fur program to its curriculum followed seven months of collaboration, and 15 students are already registered for its first class. Teaching them will be Liat Smestad, for many years lead designer for the Carol and Irwin Ware Fur Collection. The Wares were style-setters on Chicago's Magnificent Mile, introducing the city to such designers as Fendi, Dior and Zuki.

“Even today’s most in-demand designers had, at one point, never sewn a garment,” says Kathy Rezny of York Furs in Deer Park, Illinois, not far from Chicago. Rezny has been a huge driving force behind SAIC's decision to embrace fur design. “Those with a true passion for fashion worked their way up and now grace the runways of New York, Paris, Milan, and beyond. Every designer has a story, and York Furs is so excited to support local fashion students as they embark on their journey to create fashion forward designs.”

Materials for SAIC's new students are being sourced by Samantha Grala of New York-based ER Fur Trading Corp. ER Fur Trading provides production services in the US, China, Hong Kong, France, Israel and Italy, and also produces its own line of fur garments. Grala, meanwhile, is a member of Fur Futures, an international networking initiative set up to support the next generation of fur designers.

Also involved in the effort to expand options for would-be fur designers in the US is the Fur Information Council of America. Says Keith Kaplan, FICA's executive director, “We are presently in discussion with several other design schools and we hope to make similar announcements in the near future.”

Why is a fur coat expensive? Truth About Fur asked Zuki, renowned fur designer and manufacturer from Montreal, Canada:

"The price of a fur coat reflects many hours of skilled work required to produce it. Before designers like me ever see the pelts, there is the effort and knowledge of the trapper or fur farmer.

"Once the furs have been purchased at the auction and sent to the processors for 'dressing' and other special treatments, the pelts are individually matched for quality and coloration in the designer’s atelier. The pelts are then cut and 'blocked' (dampened, stretched and tacked on a 'blocking board') to fit the pattern.

"The sewing and finishing stages are done by experienced technicians using specialized skills that have been perfected over generations. Because furs are created by nature, no two pelts are exactly alike.

"The genius of furriers is their ability to create a homogenous fabric-like material, while skillfully using the natural character of the skins to enhance the design of each garment. The production of a beautiful fur coat may require 40-100 hours of skilled labor, or more."

More Questions About the Fur Trade?

Find the answers to all your questions about the North American fur trade at Truth About Fur, including:

• What types of fur are used in the fur trade?
• Is it morally wrong to raise animals just for their fur?
• What happens to the rest of a trapped animal when the fur is taken?
• Why is a fur coat expensive?
• How are farmed mink killed?
• How can we be sure that farmed mink are treated humanely in the United States?
• Why do we need foothold traps?
• How do we know only targeted animals are captured?
• Are the chemicals used for fur processing bad for the environment?
• ... and many more.

If you like this post, please like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Thank you!

Ontario trappers have launched an exciting new campaign to inform the public about how they protect people and property by responsibly managing wildlife populations.

“We are trying to reach that 80% of the population that simply does not know what we do or why and how we do it,” says Robin Horwath, General Manager of the Ontario Fur Managers Federation (OFMF).

OFMF’s posters carry a bold headline stating that, "Trappers Manage Wildlife While Protecting People!" This message is accompanied by three large photos of forest land under water and a road closed by beaver flooding.

For more information, the posters direct people to the Ontario Fur Managers’ website at www.Furmanagers.com.

Street-Level Ads

The campaign over Christmas featured large posters in two major Ontario malls, one in Ottawa’s Bayshore mall and one in Toronto’s The Path mall. In March, the campaign will shift to street-level advertising in Toronto and ads on six Ottawa buses.

“Last year, I saw some street-level info ads about the oil sands and I thought: that’s what we’ve got to do; we’ve got to get out there and tell our own story!”

“People are intelligent, but they can’t make the right decisions if we don’t give them the facts,” says Horwath.

Of course, a few posters will not change the world on their own, at least not immediately. But imagine if trappers’ councils across North America did the same thing!

Does trapping of wildlife endanger species? Truth About Fur asked Ryan and Minette Kole, certified nurses and trappers from British Columbia, Canada:

"That’s pretty well impossible with today’s strict, government-regulated trapping seasons and other rules.

"As trappers, our goal is to maintain stable and healthy wildlife populations; we don’t want to deplete our own resource - that would put us out of business!

"The real threat to wildlife today is not regulated hunting or trapping, it is the destruction of the wilderness areas by industrial activity - and trappers are the ones who are out there monitoring what's really happening out in the bush, sounding the alarm and working with logging companies and government to protect that natural habitat."

Read an in-depth interview with Ryan and Minette on the Truth About Fur website, plus many more questions and answers about the North American fur trade, including:

• What types of fur are used in the fur trade?
• Is it morally wrong to raise animals just for their fur?
• What happens to the rest of a trapped animal when the fur is taken?
• Why is a fur coat expensive?
• How are farmed mink killed?
• How can we be sure that farmed mink are treated humanely in the United States?
• Why do we need foothold traps?
• How do we know only targeted animals are captured?
• Are the chemicals used for fur processing bad for the environment?
• ... and many more.

When I started trapping in 1959, it was a lot easier than it is now. Oh, sure, there’s more information and better equipment available these days, but it’s a lot more difficult to actually start trapping today than it was a half century ago.

Urbanization is one reason. The population of the United States has shifted from predominantly rural to predominantly urban, and fewer kids (adults, too, for that matter) live close enough to trapping country to make it work. I was a town kid too, but it was a small town, and my bike could get me beyond the city limits in five minutes. That’s often not the case today, and even where it is, today’s world isn’t the one I grew up in. Turning a kid loose on a bicycle before daylight isn’t such a wise idea in many areas.

Also, there’s the change in public attitude about hunting, fishing and trapping in general. According to the 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, in my home state of Arkansas, which is less urban than many, only 301,000 residents hunted that year. That’s about 12 percent of the population. Trapping is included with hunting, and I’d be very surprised if 5 percent of those 301,000 folks trapped, but for argument’s sake, let’s say they did. That gives us a total of 15,050 trappers in my state, at most. There’s probably considerably less.

The situation is much the same elsewhere. When the percentage of active trappers is that low, it’s hard for somebody who wants to learn more about trapping to find anyone with similar interests. And when you can’t find anyone who shares your interest in something, guess what usually happens? Yep, your interest wanes, too, because it’s not much fun unless you can share it with someone.

Some Are Rookies, Some Trapped When Younger

That’s where us gray-whiskered veterans come in. Thirty years ago, I didn’t really have time to take someone under my wing on the trapline. I was pedal to the metal from Day 1 to Day Last, catching as many animals as I possibly could, because I had a houseful of kids and a dollar bill looked as big as a saddle blanket. Simply put, I couldn’t afford to take the time to help a rookie get started.

But now that’s not the case. I’m far from rich, but the crushing financial pressure is gone, and for Bill and me, the trapline is a more leisurely thing. Don’t misunderstand though. We still work hard, and we put up decent numbers for a couple of geezers, but neither of us is out there because our kids need shoes. And so we take interested folks on our line from time to time. Some are rookies just getting started, some are middle-aged guys who trapped when they were younger, and some are men and women who’ve never held a trap in their hands but want to see what it’s all about.

SEE ALSO: ONTARIO TRAPPERS PROTECT PEOPLE AND PROPERTY

The days when we have guests on the line are among the most enjoyable of the season. We usually don’t get as much done, because we’re answering questions and showing our guests what we’re doing and why. It slows us down, but we both enjoy it and are more than glad to do it. We’ve never discussed it much, but I think the reason Bill and I both enjoy having guests is that we’re helping promote trapping to non-trappers, either by helping a newbie get started or by showing a non-trapper first-hand that we’re not the bloody-handed barbarians the PETA folks make us out to be.

If you’ve never taken a kid, a beginning trapper or an interested non-trapper on your line, I recommend it. Not only will you enjoy it, but you’ll also be helping the cause.

Happy New Year from all of us here at Truth About Fur! Following is a round-up of major news items dealing with fur in 2014. We'll be sending out monthly updates this year, or you can visit Fur In The News on the Truth About Fur website.

Farmed Fur in the News

Mink farmers look to expand into Argentia area. By Andrew Robinson, The Telegram (Canada), Dec. 12, 2014.

The mink behind the wire: Inside Ireland's fur farms. By Wayne O'Connor, Sunday Independent (UK), Aug. 10, 2014.

Wisconsin's mink farmers adapt to growth, changes in fur marketplace. By Maureen McCollum. Wisconsin Public Radio, July 28, 2014.

Wisconsin mink production up 8 percent last year. Associated Press, July 25, 2014.

US mink pelt production at 3.54 million in 2013. National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), US Department of Agriculture, July 24, 2014.

California men accused of releasing 2,000 minks from Illinois farm. Los Angeles Times, July 10, 2014.

Mink farming. By Kris Sims, Sun News Network, June 3, 2014.

Fur farmers celebrate as court throws out ban on mink farming. Dutch News (Netherlands), May 21, 2014.

Adventures in the skin trade. How the Danes became masters of the global fur business. The Economist, May 3, 2014.

Mink prices drop as global production rises. By John O'Connell, Capital Press, Apr. 28, 2014.

Member states add exceptions to invasive species banned list. Exceptions introduced for “species of economic importance” after heavy lobbying by mink breeders. By Dave Keating, European Voice, Feb. 2, 2014.

Farming mink to meet market demand. Video, InnovationOxford, Jan. 25, 2014.

Wild Fur in the News

Alex Van Bibber, an incredible Yukon trapper, just may have been the toughest man in Canada. By Tristin Hopper, National Post, Nov. 28, 2014.

Yes, the anti-seal campaign is about money. By Peter Jackson, The Telegram, Nov. 26, 2014.

Trapper to trapper, a telling of tales. By Carol Sones Shetler, The Luminary, Nov. 24, 2014.

Fur Institute of Canada applauds government's support of Canadian trappers. Fur Institute of Canada, Oct. 1, 2014.

Manitoba MP defends trapping after RCMP mull phasing out muskrat hats. CBC News, Sept. 30, 2014.

Ottawa overturns RCMP decision to swap muskrat fur hats for wool tuques. CTV News, Sept. 30, 2014.

Fashionistas revive NZ fur trade. By Sophie Lowery, 3 News, Aug. 31, 2014.

Trapping wild animals on the rise in North Carolina. By Jim Lasley, News & Observer, Aug. 6, 2014.

Maine bear management program releases data, says baiting, trapping and hounding necessary to control bear population. By Aislinn Sarnacki, Bangor Daily News (Maine), July 10, 2014.

Greenlandic seal fur first experience. By Lady Fur, July 10, 2014.

Nunavut, Greenland pledge co-operation on seal ban fight. CBC News, July 7, 2014.

Beaver Brothers hit the big time. Atigonish County trappers wade into reality television with Animal Planet series. Chronicle Herald (Nova Scotia), July 4, 2014.

Thousands expected at trappers, fur takers convention in Washington County. By Dave Zuchowski, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 19, 2014.

Europe's unfair ban on Canadian seal products can stay to "protect public morals," WTO rules. By Tristin Hopper, National Post (Canada), May 22, 2014.

EU seal product ban upheld in WTO appeal. CBC News, May 22, 2014.

An oral history of the Newfoundland seal hunt. By Burton K. Janes, CBN The Compass, May 20, 2014.

Most Europeans don't like "public morality" trade bans: survey. Nunatsiaq News, May 15, 2014.

Beavers bite into East Ferris budget. By Gord Young, The Nugget (Ontario), May 11, 2014.

Required trapping class in Minnesota helps young trappers learn proper, ethical techniques. By Brad Dokken, Grand Forks Herald (North Dakota), May 11, 2014.

B.C. traplines auction the first in several years. CBC News - British Columbia, May 6, 2014.

The only people making money off the seal hunt are anti-sealing campaigners. By Terry Audla, Huffington Post, Apr. 28, 2014.

We went on a fur run in the Northwest Territories. By Pat Kane, Vice Magazine, Apr. 16, 2014.

Connecticut a player in global fur trade. By Erik Hesselberg, The Courant, Apr. 6, 2014.

Fur heritage fades as trapper's work Canada's loneliest. By Greg Quinn, Bloomberg, Mar. 19, 2014.

Trapping to save a culture: How the fur trade funds a camp that connects Canadian youth to tradition and nature. By Joseph Boyden, National Post (Canada), Mar. 7, 2014.

A country built on fur: Trapper Gordy Klassen practises his own "brand of activism". By Jodie Sinnema, Edmonton Journal, Mar. 3, 2014.

Fur Auctions in the News

Adventures in the skin trade. How the Danes became masters of the global fur business. The Economist, May 3, 2014.

NWT wild furs take top dollar at international auction. Global tensions drop fur sales from last year’s record high. By Maria Church, Northern Journal (Canada), Apr. 14, 2014.

Design & Fabrication in the News

Pretty pictures: Remix 2014. By Alexandra Suhner Isenberg, Searching for Style, Mar. 14, 2014.

Interview: Rachel F. talks fur and Montreal fashion. By Giuliana Contavalli, The Main (Montreal), Mar. 10, 2014.

Real fur - in every colour of the rainbow and endorsed by celebrities - has crept back into fashion. So what changed? By Olivia Bergin, The Telegraph (UK), Feb. 28, 2014.

From Russia with love. The story of J. Mendel is a fashion fairytale … By Jesse Ashlock, New York Times, Feb. 7, 2014.

Fur Retailing & Consumers in the News

Hamilton location "best move I ever made," designer says. By Meredith MacLeod, Hamilton Spectator (Ontario), Dec. 15 2014.

Is fake fur even worse than the real thing? By India Sturgis, Daily Mail (UK), Nov. 23, 2014.

I made my first real fur purchase and it came with free stigma. By Courtney Brunson, xoJane, Nov. 7, 2014.

Hinsdale Furriers' fashion director tells all. By Ginny Richardson, Chicago Tribune, Sept. 10, 2014.

The entrepreneurs: Next generation fur is a one-woman affair. By Paul Delan, Montreal Gazette, Sept. 10, 2014.

Real fur is making a comeback in the fashion world. By Francesca Fearon, South China Morning Post, Sept. 5, 2014.

Fall fashion photos: Ferociously furry. By Eva Friede, Montreal Gazette, Sept. 5, 2014.

Bio: Jamie Cahill. By Sarah Frank, My Kawartha, Sept. 9, 2014.

Sleeping on animal fur in infancy found to reduce risk of asthma. European Lung Foundation, Sept. 7, 2014.

Detroit's fur industry still here after 300 years. IPR Public Radio, Sept. 3, 2014.

Have British consumers bought into "ethical" fur? By Oliver Duggan, The Telegraph (UK), Aug. 15, 2014.

Fur flies and West Hollywood ("WeHo") fur ban is upheld by federal court. JD Supra, July 7, 2014.

LaBelle Furs carries on, hot weather and all. By Sara K. Clarke, Orlando Sentinel (Florida), May 11, 2014.

West Hollywood upholds ban on fur. By Emily Farra, Style.com, May 8, 2014.

FTC approves amendments to Fur Products Labeling Act regulations. US Federal Trade Commission, May 7, 2014.

Pappas Furs closes after 100 years; Store with an international reputation started in Prince George in 1913. By Jenny Lee, Vancouver Sun, Apr. 15, 2014.

Global fur trade is worth as much as Wi-Fi. By Belinda White, The Telegraph (UK), Mar. 27, 2014.

5 observations of the fur industry. By Alexandra Suhner Isenberg, Searching for Style, Mar. 17, 2014.

Animal Welfare vs. Rights in the News

Yes, the anti-seal campaign is about money. By Peter Jackson, The Telegram, Nov. 26, 2014.

Fur is popular, and is produced responsibly. By Alan Herscovici, letter to the editor, Montreal Gazette, Sept. 10, 2014.

California men accused of releasing 2,000 minks from Illinois farm. Los Angeles Times, July 10, 2014.

Europe's unfair ban on Canadian seal products can stay to "protect public morals," WTO rules. By Tristin Hopper, National Post (Canada), May 22, 2014.

West Hollywood upholds ban on fur. By Emily Farra, Style.com, May 8, 2014.

Public morals are a slippery slope. By Mark Oaten, CEO, International Fur Federation, Huffington Post, Apr. 28, 2014.

When you are a passionate fur lover and working with a fur organization, you find yourselves fighting many battles against animal rights activists. I loathe animal rights activists. But I loathe to loathe animal rights activists, because who wants to be against any organization that purports to protect animals’ rights? Don’t we all want animals to have rights that are respected?

The problem with today’s “animal rights” groups is that their arguments are extreme. They aren’t interested in improving the lives of farmed animals, investing in continued development of better trapping techniques, supporting zoos who ensure the survival of endangered species and who participate in valuable breeding programs, working with scientists to ensure that animals used for scientific research are treated the best way possible, or re-housing abandoned animals. Instead, they want to completely ban all animal farming, trapping, zoos, pets, animal testing, leather, meat, fur, and fish. There is no middle ground for them, and I find it really annoying.

Activists don’t understand that farmers, trappers, and all of us involved in the fur industry care deeply about animals and their welfare. Veterinarians and researchers around the world have studied the techniques and systems used in farming and trapping for the fur industry and can attest to the high standards that almost every single farmer and trapper achieve. Many of us love fur because we love the land and animals. We want to preserve the land and animals and we know that in wearing natural fibres and using sustainable natural resources we are contributing towards the protection of the earth, rather than wearing throw away fashion made from non-renewable synthetics. There is no doubt that living off the land with respect to sustainability is the best thing way we could live, and that includes consumption of animals.

When I argue these things with activists, they think it is black and white. Either you kill animals, or you don’t. But it is not that at all. I am vehemently against the poor treatment of animals in farms. I’ve re-evaluated all my opinions on animal use. Personally I am not comfortable with the use of animals for entertainment or sport, including rodeos, dog shows, horse “sports,” and hunting for sport where the “catch” is not used for its skin and/or food. I buy all my meat from countries whose farming standards are extremely high (this is easy because I live in Sweden and the farming standards here are ridiculously high), and I am extremely conscious about sourcing when buying animal products (for example, leather.) In fact, my buying habits, aside from fur, are probably in line with the ways most activists shop themselves, as a large majority of them are not living vegan lives.

So why isn’t there a group to support this conscientious majority? Where are the “animal rights” activists whose mandate is to care for animals and ensure their well being, without pushing an unrealistic agenda that demands the cessation of consumption of all animals and animal by-products around the world?

This is the time of year for giving, and I would love to find a reputable charity whose mandate is to improve the lives of animals, while respecting the fact that they are one of the world’s most valuable resources. The World Wildlife Fund does an excellent job at protecting wildlife while supporting sustainable use principles, but I’d like to see farmed animals getting the respect they deserve too, all around the world. I want to see a group that supports the sustainable use of animals, while protecting them from unnecessary harm. That is what animal rights should be about.

The TV news item was about the upcoming duck season, and the soundtrack in the background was a recording of somebody blowing a duck caller. The calling wasn’t bad, but what ruined it for me was the film clip they were running to illustrate duck hunting.

They were filming a flock of coots.

Unfortunately, that sort of stuff is pretty common on today’s television and movie programming. Pay attention, and you’ll see it all the time. I bet I’ve watched a dozen movies where they show a flock of cranes or ibises or some other species that flies in a V formation, accompanied by an overlaid soundtrack of - you guessed it - goose music.

Things like this are laughable, but they ought to also serve as warning flags. Every instance should remind us that not everyone is as knowledgeable about things outdoors as we are, and that simple but profound fact can (and often does) come back to bite us. In fact, the general lack of knowledge of the public about nature might well be the biggest problem we trappers, hunters and anglers face.

Sure, there are plenty of other things for us to worry about - loss of habitat to urban encroachment, shrinking access to public and private land, decreasing recruitment of young people into the outdoor lifestyle we know and love. But at the end of the day, none of those things will matter if our legal right to trap gets taken away at the ballot box.

And slowly but surely, that’s what’s happening. This year, for example, there was a petition drive in Montana to get an initiative on the November ballot prohibiting trapping on any public land in that state. (See Toby Walrath’s piece in the November 2013 issue of Trapper & Predator Caller for more on that.) They failed to get sufficient signatures this time, but if this thing passes in the future, more than a third of Montana would be closed to trapping.

Montana wouldn’t be the first state where it’s happened, either. It’s already against the law to trap on public land in Arizona and Colorado, and trappers have been so restricted and legislation-crippled in states like California, Florida, Massachusetts and New Jersey that I swear I can’t understand why any trapper would live there.

Coots Instead of Ducks, Cranes Instead of Geese

The reason this has happened, and the reason it continues to be a threat, goes right back to that coots instead of ducks, cranes instead of geese thing - a widespread lack of knowledge in the non-hunting, non-trapping public about all things wild. Most of these folks aren’t necessarily against hunting or trapping. They’re not anorexic, wild-eyed vegans. They eat meat just like we do. Nor are they stupid. They just have no interest in hunting or trapping. That’s all. And so they don’t bother to learn anything about it.

But they care about wildlife in an abstract, feel-good sort of way, and that’s why they’re susceptible to the exaggerations, half-truths and flat-out lies the zealots on the bunny-hugger side of the fence keep throwing at them. For example, it’s true what the anti’s say, that the lion does sometimes lay down with the lamb. But what the anti’s always forget to mention is that the reason the lion does so is so it can more comfortably eat the lamb.

It’s up to us to stop this brainwashing of the non-hunting, non-trapping public, and the most effective way to do it is personal communication. Every trapper has many friends and family members who don’t hunt or trap. These folks would be more inclined to believe us than they would be to believe some complete stranger telling them trapping and hunting are evil. However, they won’t get our side of the story unless we tell them.

Are you doing that with your friends and relatives? If so, thanks very much, and keep up the good work.

If you’re not, you’re part of the problem.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if animal activists got their wish to eliminate all animal products? And created their version of a "perfect world"?

What would that look like?

Check out this clever musical cartoon by Fur Europe … and pass it on!

When people voice their opinion against fur farming it is an often used argument that farmed fur animals are wild animals and thus not suited to farm life in a cage. The argument is intriguing – but it is not correct.

The first recorded history of fur farmed mink dates back to 1860s in North America and a fox farm from about 1908 on Prince Edward Island in Canada is generally recognized as the world’s first silver fox farm. The European herd is founded on import of these North American animals with the first fur farms emerging in Norway in 1914.

The anti-fur argument then normally goes, that other animal species have been domesticated for thousands of years, which is true. But the underlying assumption to this argument, namely that domestication of animals requires thousands of years, is not true at all.

The world’s most famous research project on domestication happened to be carried out with foxes by the Russian scientist Dimitri K. Belyaev. He believed that the patterns of change observed in animals domesticated over thousands of years resulted from genetic changes which occurred in the course of selection. In 1959, Belyaev set up a long-term experiment of domestication of wild foxes and in the course of 24 years Belyalev and his team bred foxes that behaved like dogs, and literally were dependent on human contact. From an animal agriculture perspective it would be fair to characterize such animals as over-domesticated, and my point here is simply that total domestication from wild to tame animal can be done in a relatively short period of time. With regards to the fur farmed animals in Europe, there is sufficient scientific evidence that they are indeed domesticated animals.

One of the most significant differences between wild and domesticated animals is the animal’s attitude towards humans. Though exceptions may be found, it is evident that mink and foxes on European fur farms are not afraid of human contact. Today’s fur animals are totally undisturbed (unless around feeding time) when humans enter the farm. Such indifference to human beings is unthinkable in the wild.

Farmed fur animals also possess many of the other traits which are scientifically recognized as signs of domestication: They are bigger than their wild counterparts, the colors pattern changes, the litter sizes are larger, the brains are smaller, the legs are shorter, tails are curled, and ears are floppy. The latter was already pointed out by Charles Darwin who, without having any knowledge of genetics, brilliantly pointed to selection as the reason for modification of character. Animal and plant domestication was of fundamental importance for the development of Darwin’s ideas about the theory of evolution by natural selection. In the first chapter of ‘The Origin of the Species’ from 1859 he wrote: “Not a single domestic animal can be named which has not in some country drooping ears.”

In the wild only elephants has this feature.

You can read more about both Charles Darwin and Dimitri K. Belyaev’s groundbreaking but somewhat forgotten fox experiment here and here.

In this age of “shock imagery” being used to promote political agendas, it’s easy to paint an entire industry by the actions of a single actor. As the fur farming industry well knows, a suspect undercover video produced in China almost 10 years ago, of an animal being horribly skinned alive, is still being used to paint the industry worldwide. Though the creators of that undercover video have refused to provide the un-cut footage, identify the perpetrators so they can be prosecuted (yes, it is a crime in China) or even reveal the location or time it was made, they still try to use it as “proof” that fur production should be outlawed.

Today we continue to find that animal-rights groups, in their efforts to ban animals from our diet, clothing, medical research and pet stores, are increasingly using undercover video as “whistleblower” evidence of cruelty or neglect.

No one, especially those of us whose livelihoods depend upon healthy, well-cared for animals, wants to see an animal injured or treated badly. U.S. mink farmers, and, indeed, all animal agriculture, not only view animal welfare as a moral obligation, but know that humane care is critical to producing the quality food and fiber that America is recognized for.

Fur Commission USA supports both “whistleblower” protection laws and farm protection statutes. While extremists, often through deceit and creative editing, continue to generate and distribute shock imagery that supports their world-view, it is important to farmers in the U.S. that credible evidence of actual abuse or neglect is identified in a timely manner, and reported to the proper government authorities for investigation so that any problems can be immediately corrected. It is, and should be, all about the well-being of the animals.

Too often we see these anti-animal use groups hold back their “evidence” in order to receive maximum media coverage. They don’t want pesky issues like war, disease or human suffering to take attention away from their agenda.

Does this help the animals? No. In fact, between the time an undercover video may actually have been taken, edited and broadcast, months may have gone by. In that time, if the video is a true depiction, how much animal suffering could have been prevented?

Regrettably, it is painfully obvious that often these organizations appear to care less about the animals than they do about maximizing publicity, self-promotion and fund raising – and that should be the real crime.