It’s time for our roundup of February’s fur news stories, and it makes sense to start with the catwalk shows and the inevitable fashion week protests. With fashion shows come protesters, trying to push their animal rights agenda on the general public. As usual, their protests were chaotic and not very effective. One activist in London stormed a catwalk show that did not even contain any fur. Meanwhile, Dennis Basso (a designer best known for his furs) showed a beautifully furry collection, and Elle says that fur sweatshirts are now a thing (pictured). We can get on board with that.

WWD did an interesting interview with Tom Ford, who made it clear that he thought fake fur was very damaging for the environment (so why is he using it, then?), but claims that he will now only offer furs that are by-products of the meat industry. Let’s see how long this new strategy lasts. His most interesting comment was that “I have a customer who is very used to wearing leather and fur; it’s a part of our business.” It’s the reason why brands keep coming back to fur: FUR SELLS.

And speaking of fur selling, Truth About Fur’s blog post last week looked at the future of fur retailing, and how some stores are adapting their sales and marketing strategies to the modern consumer.

Proud Olympian

The Winter Olympics ended last week and we were thrilled when we heard that Samuel Girard, who won bronze in speed skating, is also a proud trapper. He’s not alone in taking pride in what he does, of course: this trapper says trapping is nostalgic and “in his blood”, while these trappers play a role in bobcat conservation and dealing with beaver issues. And trappers are also the ones who put the “fur” in Alaska’s Fur Rondy – here’s why. It’s not all fun though. This is a terrifying story (with a happy ending) about a trapper whose snowmobile got stuck and was forced to spend the night outside in minus 50℃.

Sexual Harassment, Topless Women

There were some unexpected headlines involving animal rights activist groups last month. The Humane Society of the United States’s CEO, Wayne Pacelle, resigned over sexual harassment claims. Apparently this is not unusual, in fact, it appears to be quite common in the animal rights movement. And yet these women go topless (pictured) at fashion week protests, and the movement continues to use degrading imagery of women in its campaigns. And, this certainly hasn’t stopped these people accusing farmers of being rapists and sending them death threats. How about we take the sex, nudity, and harassment out of this argument, and argue our causes with facts? There’s no doubt in our mind that vegans hurt their case by being too extreme, and the same could be said for the whole animal rights movement.

Here are a few more articles from February that are worth a read:

Fake fur is worse than real fur (duh).

Whales are being threatened by microplastics. (When will we stop with these horrible synthetic materials?)

A nude activist says she doesn’t need clothes because animals don’t have them. (This is even more ridiculous than the fashion week protests at fur-free shows.)

The ethics of killing animals is complicated (though you already knew that).

Try and avoid bringing your emotional support peacock on a flight. (He won’t be allowed on the plane.)

RIP Alcide Giroux

Lastly, It is with a sad heart that we learned this week about the sudden passing of the legendary Canadian trapper, Alcide Giroux. Alcide (pictured above) was a leader in the development of humane trapping methods. He was also tireless in promoting recognition of trappers as true conservationists and front-line guardians of nature. Alcide learned his bushcraft from his Métis father, a man he liked to say had a GPS in his brain – and the man he credits with teaching him the importance of promoting respect and animal welfare in trapping. At a time when we are working to increase public understanding of the important role played by trappers in environmental conservation, we owe much to Alcide’s pioneering efforts as an important leader and spokesperson for the trapping community. Rest in peace, old friend.