CAFT Ireland

Are you against fur in fashion? Then get in the know about the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade.

CAFT Ireland is a voluntary, grassroots-level organisation that works to highlight cruelty in the fur trade. CAFT Ireland has had countless successes, including victories in getting department store Clery & Co. and fashion boutique Fran & Jane to adopt fur-free policies.

Why campaign?

• Fur farming is still legal in the Republic of Ireland.
• Each year over 140,000 animals are slaughtered for their fur in Ireland. Currently there are six mink farms and at least one fox farm in Ireland.
• Worldwide, 40 million animals are killed for their fur each year. 

Life on the fur farm

The life of animals farmed for fur is often bleak. To cut costs, many fur famers pack animals into small cages, preventing them from taking more than a few steps back and forth. This crowding and confinement is especially distressing to mink, which are solitary animals. Zoologists in Oxford University, who studied captive mink found that, despite generations of being bred for fur, mink have not been domesticated and suffer greatly in captivity, having no access to swimming water which is essential to a mink’s well being.

Unfortunately the suffering doesn’t end there. It takes up to 60 mink to make one fur coat and methods of slaughter vary from clubbing and strangulation to gassing and anal electrocution. Other methods include neck-breaking and injection with substances such as weed-killer. The idea is to kill the animal without damaging the fur.

Trapping

15% of the world’s fur comes from trapped animals. The majority of these animals are killed using the barbaric leg hold trap; a trap banned in 88 countries because of its cruelty. These steel traps work by clamping the animal's leg, biting deep into the flesh.
The victims may wait a long time before the trapper returns to kill them, either by clubbing or suffocation.

Cats, dogs and other animals

Millions of cats and dogs are killed for their fur each year - particularly in China. Many other animals around the world are killed for their fur each year, including rabbit, chinchilla, racoons, lynx and wolves.

What can I do?

• Don’t buy real fur. Avoid all fur products and carefully check the trim and lining. If you are uncertain about whether it is real or fake, don't buy it!
• Boycott and complain to any store selling real fur and encourage you friends and colleagues to do the same. Learn the facts - contact CAFT for a full list of fact sheets.
• Get actively involved in the anti-fur campaign. If you are interested in becoming actively involved with CAFT campaigns and would like to attend any upcoming demonstrations or events, please use the below contact details to get further information.

More and more people are beginning to realise that fur is just not cool and with fashion house Tommy Hilfiger vowing to go completely fur free,  it is a clear message that there is no place for cruelty on the catwalk. Perhaps at last animals can reclaim their lives - and their fur!

Contact details for more information:

Address: CAFT Ireland, PO BOX 4734, Dublin 1.     
Email: caftireland@yahoo.ie           
Phone: 086 8729444

By: Donna Corcoran