Department store faux-fur fraud

By: Anne Robinsonamr8798@gmail.com

Can you always trust a label? I'm sure we would all love to think we can but the truth is, sometimes labels lie.

Department stores in the U.S. have sold jackets advertised as 'faux-fur', when actually the jackets were made from domesticated raccoon dog fur. Macy's, Nordstrom, Calvin Klein, and Tommy Hilfiger were all on the list. In one investigation, the Humane Society found that 24 out of 25 jackets that were advertised as 'faux-fur' contained some degree of real animal hair.

In case you are a little "out of the loop" when it comes to fur, here are some important details. Faux-fur is a fake fur fabric and is the popular alternative for designers who don't want real animal fur in their collections. Faux-fur is a textile fabric that is processed and dyed to resemble real animal fur. There are some advantages to using faux-fur. For starters, it is much cheaper than real animal fur. It is also easy to dye faux-fur; therefore, there is a wider variation of colors available. It is also more durable than animal fur, some products are even hand-washable.

Most real fur comes from China, where an estimated 2 million animals are killed (f.y.i skinned alive) each year by fur traders.
An unbelievable amount of fur is needed to make one coat. For one coat using raccoon dog fur, 12 to 15 dogs are needed. To make a coat using cat fur, up to 24 cats are needed.

So, were these department stores knowingly advertising faux-fur jackets that were actually made with real fur? It turns out there was a loophole in the law. Importing, exporting, and selling dog and cat fur in the United States is illegal; however, the law states that if the fur on a product was valued at less than $150.00 no label was required. Crazy, right? My guess is that if someone is against buying clothes with real animal fur, they aren't going to care whether the amount of fur is valued at $5 or $500.

In 2007, the Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act was introduced into Congress, the bill would require labels be put on everything, regardless of the value of the animal fur, and would therefore, end the import, export, and sale of dog and cat fur in the United States. The bill has yet to pass.