Animation Source Forums

((Wow I haven't been here for a few years. This place has really changed, I hope for the better :/ ))

Fur farms, you see those depressing videos on youtube, maybe even heard of animals being skinned alive? Most of them are stagged or in china where fur farming animal welfare laws aren't as modern as they are in the US or Europe. I'm talking about fur farms in the US or Europe, not China.

Don't they skin animals alive? No, that is the most idiotic thing you can ask someone who owns furs. An animal would not be skinned alive, that would make skinning it harder and is dangerous to the person. I assure you animals die before skinned. The video of a tanuki being skinned alive is fake. It was stagged by PETA so that you would donate to their cause. " In 1997, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals releases edited videotape of a facility in Illinois which shows acts of cruelty to foxes, plus electrocution of foxes, a method of euthanasia not approved in Illinois. PeTA claims the footage depicts "modern fur farms" in the US, and complains about lack of regulation. Subsequent investigation reveals that the facility in question was not a fur farm but a scent-producing facility, its main business being to sell scent to wildlife biologists and others as a lure for wild animals. It operated under a permit issued by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and did not qualify for an agricultural operations exemption from DNR permits since the bulk of its animals, which included fox, raccoons, deer and other critters, came from the wild. If it was a fur farming operation, it would have come under the jurisdiction of the state Department of Agriculture which oversees livestock.And the animals were so poorly cared for that when the owner did attempt to sell the pelts of about 100 foxesÊhe killed, there were no buyers." (http://www.furcommission.com/news/newsC7.htm) No animals are skinned alive.

Are the animals abused? On fur farms, it depends how you look at it. Most mink and foxes have been domesticated, and few come from the wild if any. Yes animals are kept in small cages. If you think its horrible, then you have obviously never been to a chicken farm. Most fur farms are better regulated than farms that produce meat. All fur farms are regulated by the gov, so if you have a problem, take it up with the gov. "The status of farmed mink and fox as domesticated animals is recognized in US federal law (US Code Title 7, Chapter 7, § 433) and, in common with all livestock, domesticated furbearers such as mink and fox come under the jurisdiction of state departments of agriculture, not the federal government. Since there are human health concerns, the federal government does oversee in the regulation of the slaughter of food animals, e.g. the Animal Welfare Act." (http://www.furcommission.com/FAQ.htm#Anchor-44867)


Why not just use fake fur? It bad for the enviornment actually. "Real fur is an organic material. « Faux fur » (fake fur) and most synthetics are made from petrochemicals. Like other plastics, these materials do not break down easily and will remain in landfills for centuries. The “dressing”process (tanning) helps to preserve the pelts for some time, but after many years of use they will eventually dry out and begin to deteriorate (i.e., biodegrade), returning to nature. Old fur apparel can even be composted for your garden!" (http://www.furisgreen.com/fur_is_biodegradable.aspx) Also its a great antatomical reference. A lot of artists own furs. Kaylink on DA owns several furs and taxidermied pieces from fur farms.


But killing animals for fur is mean! And? Leather is made from cow skin. So anything you own in leather has just come from a cow. If cows where adorable fluffy things would you want to save them? Just becuase fur comes from a fox, mink, chinchilla, or rabbitt doesn't mean its any more cruel than killing a cow for meat. And besides, the animal bodies left over are made into pet food. If you look on the back of a pet food label and it says 'animal meat products' or something of the like, then it's probably from a fur farm.

Does fur farming do anything beneficial? Well, because of fur farms mink and fox have been domesticated. And there a tons of new colors foxes come in that would never have existed without fur farms. Just look at all these colors http://www.hideandfur.com/inventory/foxcolorguide.html None of it possible without fur farms.

What about animal rights? Animal rights? No one cares about animal rights. Go do more research.

What about animal welfare? http://homepages.sover.net/~lsudlow/ARvsAW.htm Read that and educate yourself. Animal welfare is maintained by the state are fur farms. Peta and HSUS are both rubbish organizations. Any add campaing you've seen by them is probably fake and not really beneficial to the animals. PETA actually kills more animals than it adopts out. Welfare is maintained by the government, so once again if you have a problem, take it up with them.

How do you know fur is regulated? Heres a simple FAQ page that should clear up anything. http://www.furcommission.com/FAQ.htm#Anchor-44867

What about the death itself? This little site should clear some things up http://www.furcommission.com/farming/index.html#Anchor-Humane-35326 Animals like mink are usually gassed, which means that they are stuck in a box and after awhile pass out then suffocate while unconsiouss. Foxes are either gassed or electrocuted. Becuase electrocution can take up to 20 seconds the animals are knocked unconsiouss before they are ever electrocuted. Small animals like chinchilla or rabbitt have their necks snapped. It only works on small animals and is usually humane. Brain bashing is almost never done on fur farms as the animal has to have a very specific skull anatomy to do it. You can bash a pig but not a cow.

Congrats! You made it through my wall of text! Hopefully you read it all or at least most of it. Have a nice day!

No matter what people say I will never support these 'fur farms'. Killing an animal and skinning it just so you can wear its fur? Umm... no thank you. In my opinion (notice that there?) that is wrong. If humans were meant to have fur they'd be born with it.

I'm fine with that and I totally respect your opinion. I'm actually pretty iffy on fur farms myself, I will probably never own a fur farmed pelt (only population control, roadkill or natural death). I didn't post this to try an convince anyone to support them, just to clear up a lot of rumors about fur farms and the fur industry in general. Theres just a freakish amount of misunderstanding about fur farms, hunting, taxidermy etc. and I wanted to try and clear some of it up. And I also hate that people would wear fur for fashion. It's disrepsectful to the animal in my opinion. This article was more aimed at taxidermy when I thought of creating it, which I feel is far more respectful to the animal.

I personally regret that humans have to take anything from animals. If you've ever seen a chicken farm, its quite disgusting. Or the fact that we inject cows and such with hormones. Bit off topic but that might change within a few decades as Japan has invented a way to turn human waste into meat.

When I first saw the title, my first thought was "Oh great, another rant about why fur is so awful and evil. This should be fun.."

But boy, you proved me wrong! xD I agree with absolutely EVERYTHING you said, and see nothing wrong with skinning or stuffing animals. I find taxidermy quite beautiful and amazing, myself. Plus the entire animal is usually used anyway, no point in wasting the skin!

And the whole 'skinning animals alive' thing?? BULLCRAP. I KNOW people who do taxidermy, and they even said skinning an animal ALIVE was just plain pointless - since it'd be incredibly difficult and would just ruin the pelt. What would be the point in that?? Some people are just so stupid. Taxidermy is an art, and all artists want the best out of their work, amirite?

LOVE this topic. I hope a lot of people read it, and learn the truth before they BAWWWW about such matters that don't even exist!

Whoah, took me forever to check back up on this topic.

Yep, I assumed more people would click on it if it had an anti-fur title. Taxidermy is amazing, I'm trying to learn myself, but its expensive. And I hope people read it too, but walls of text tend to intimidate people. :I

^ yeah, very true. Usually I don't bother with walls of text myself, but this topic intrigued me xDD

if you ever try taxidermy, I'd love to see it!

I don't see how taxidermy is an 'art'. Killing another living creature so you can shove stuffing or whatever into it's body? But I've always been anti-fur/killing for fun. If humans were meant to have fur, they'd have been born with it. Raising animals and then killing them for their fur is rather barbaric - then again that's human nature it seems. /shrug.

My opinions. Could care less if they are flamed.

Art is based off opinion, each person has a different idea about what art is. I think taxidermy is an art because you have to mold the animal (you can use forms but I don't like those) and try to make it as lifelike as possible through claywork, plaster, and you do have to paint the fur afterwords to make it look alive. Yes the fur is made by an animal and forms are usually made by machines but so are paper and pencils.

I don't like killing for fun. I think its barbaric too, but I also share my beliefs with native americans in the idea that if an animal dies you should use all of it. Most of the time animals are killed for population control not for their fur. And a lot of mounts from Africa are from game reserves that sell the tanned skins for profit. So if the animal is going to die for whatever reason you should try to get use out of it. The only fur farm fur I would ever buy would be from a guy who sells the pelts of foxes he breeds for pets when they get too old. I wouldn't feel comfortable with anything else.

I only like taxidermy because I feel the animal should be remembred as something honorable, not just a rotting body in the woods. Even if it was only killed for its pelt it deservs to be remmbred.


Not flaming you, just trying to explain my opinion.

Animals that are skinned and stuffed are rarely 'killed for fun'.. most of the time they're found dead of natural causes or illness. :/

And like faithful said, art IS in the eye of the beholder. Some people find preserving a dead animal's beauty an art.. especially if it's an animal you could never get close to in real life. It's not for everyone, but I think the people who care this much about animals even in death don't deserve the bullcrap they get from PETAtards. Like I said.. there's no point in wasting the skin.

^ Not in my experience. MANY people I know go hunting - for fun - and then mount the heads on their walls or turn their fur into throw rugs. Sorry, but that's not 'art' to me.

And sorry, I'm not a PETAtard just because I disagree with you because FYI, I cannot stand PETA. They are a bunch of uneducated morons.

Hm... Tibbeh, you know that taxidermits take or buy their animals already dead? Like from roadkills, population controls etc. No one is killing those animals for fun just toget them stuffed...

Raise an animal just to killl it? Think about it again while eating your dinner.

faithful~friend> Thanks for this topic and for clearing things up. The loudest people who are against furs are usually the ones that are not educated about it and, like you said, saw only those China videos of skinning animals alive etc. But no. There are LAWS about fur farms/hunting. Like I once asked on a forum about furs. Thank hells I requested topic closur before the flame started.

^ Thanks for deciding I'm one of those "uneducated" people without knowing me. :D Just because I don't agree with it doesn't make me a retarded, thanks. But nice try. :]

Who said I was talking about you? Thanks for thinking I'm against you without knowing who I meant when I was writing about uneducated animal protectors. Just because I was talking to you in the beggining of my post, it doesn't mean thet the rest was about you. And just because I'm okay with furs it doesn't mean I think everyone who disagrees with me is idiot.