Dear Fashion Police ...

Fur flies over fur clothes

By Jeannine Stein
Los Angeles Times Syndicate

Dear Fashion Police: I cannot believe my eyes. At my local high- end department store, I am confronted with little animals that have given up their lives for fur collars, cuffs and winter jackets.

When did it become fashionable again to wear the fur of caged, slaughtered animals?

It is very disappointing to see some people in the public eye who were so vocal in the battle for these animals' lives now donning real fur. Human beings have the technology to create synthetics of almost everything that can be found in nature.
-- Watching the fur fly

Dear Watching: The controversy over fur has been raging for years, and it shows no signs of abating. Remember years ago when fur- wearing women were drenched in red paint by protesters?

And just last year, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals picketed Bloomingdale's in Los Angeles for selling fur.

Although wearing real fur has been politically incorrect for some time, there are parts of the country (Chicago, New York) where women can be seen strolling the boulevards in their minks, chinchillas and foxes.

But the fur issue is complex, and there is some gray area in this debate.

For example, there are people who believe that wearing the fur of a farm-raised animal such as mink is fine, because the animal was bred specifically for that purpose and was not caught in the wild.

Others think that killing animals, even farm-raised ones, just for their coats is horrible. Yet they may think nothing of wearing leather or eating steak. Then there are some who shun wearing or eating anything that comes from an animal.

So who's right?

Before you condemn those celebrities for allegedly switching from anti- to pro-fur, are you sure what they're wearing is real? Those wonderful synthetics you mentioned are good enough to fool the most well-trained eye.

For those who love the look of fur but don't want any animals harmed, we urge you to look at some of those fake pelts. They're soft, warm and cozy, and no stuffed animals were harmed to make them.

Send letters to Fashion Police, Los Angeles Times Syndicate, 145 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles, California, 90012. (Questions and observations of general interest will be addressed in the column.)

Animal-rights group apologizes to N.Y. mayor over ad
September 1, 2000
Dear Fashion Police ...
August 28, 2000
Dear Fashion Police...
August 24, 2000

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Bloomingdale's

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