Animal protection groups around the world are campaigning tirelessly to stop the fur trade, conducting investigations to expose the inherent cruelty, harnessing the public’s voice calling for an end to the fur industry, and lobbying governments to implement bans prohibiting the production and trade in fur. And it’s working.
For example, soon after Russia announced a ban on the trade in fur from seals in 2011, Chinese animal advocates staged protests urging the Chinese government to reject Canadian seal fur trade proposals. Following this organised and effective campaign, China responded by postponing finalising a deal to import Canadian seal products, sending a clear message that “China is not a dumping ground for Canadian seal products.”
Fashion designers, consumers and companies are increasingly turning their backs on fur. In 2011 Oslo Fashion Week became the first fashion week to ban all fur from the catwalk, with support from internationally renowned designers as well as Norwegian Elle and Cosmopolitan magazines. Also, in South Korea, after an overwhelming number of complaints from animal protection groups and concerned members of the public, Seoul city officials instructed Fendi (an Italian high fashion house) to remove all fur pieces from their fashion show, threatening to cancel it entirely if they did not comply.
Each year anti-fur campaigners organise competitions such as Fur Free Fashion, known as ‘fffashion’ and ‘Design Against Fur’, to encourage forward-thinking designers to forgo using fur in their clothing ranges and to raise awareness of the cruelty involved in the fur trade.