Story ruffled readers' fur

An anti-fur campaign that targets Manitoba garment company Canada Goose left many of our readers cold.

Move outside the city and learn what these "sensitive, intelligent animals" will do to your cattle, sheep, pigs, etc. Further, coyotes have no fear of humans and will enter small towns and have been known to attack pets and we keep our children inside. Coyotes are not beauty, they are a nuisance to ranchers and farmers and a danger to small children and pets. Don't get me started on the problems caused by beavers, muskrats and weasels!!

I prefer to see the furs used for a purpose, rather than the $50 you get per tail from Conservation for culling a dangerous nuisance.

-- CountryLiving1

Hey Cheryl, remember when you were a little girl and you sang along to The Lion King? Relax -- it's the circle of life.

"Stolen from their families and homes." Cheryl, you're a graduate student. I assume you know what anthropomorphism is.

If you don't want to wear furs, then don't. If you want to know the reality of what's going on, spend a season in Norway House (come down from your ivory tower), then offer an informed opinion.

-- jb61

She said there are synthetic materials that can keep people warm.

So she is OK with the oil industry polluting the earth and killing even more animals? Good to know.

-- Dean Koshelanyk

My father is a trapper. It absolutely boggles my mind when I hear people telling stories like in the article about how they're all just sensitive helpless creatures. I beg to differ and I've also witnessed how they're NOT the type of animal that Disney portrays.

We always used the entire animal and never put anything to waste, and the traps that are used are as humane as they get. You will get trappers that have no regard for the animals and will use lesser traps, which will cause marks in the hide and suffering, which is not what you want if you are selling the fur for market.

I own fur items, I love them, they keep me warm. If your opinion differs from mine, that's fine. That's why we all have the freedom of thought and the ability to form our own beliefs and opinions.

-- Snowflake2

And the protesters are based out of Toronto? Not very ethical if they consider that they are living in a huge metropolis which contributes to the destruction of wildlife in so many ways (urban sprawl, pollution, vast energy consumption). My guess that most of these sheltered people have never lived outside of a city. And sponsored by a cosmetics company (Lush), another evil industry that preys on the insecurity of women. Those who live in glass cities should not throw stones.

-- traci_wpg

Wow. To each their own. I wear fur, eat meat and consider myself to be a good-hearted charitable person. Humans do not have fur to keep warm, we also can't drink mom's milk our entire lives. So we make clothes and eat what we grow or catch.

Even if you are a vegan, the fields that are cleared to plant crops displace wild animals from their homes and the pesticides used on those crops pollute waterways reducing beaver habitat. So the next protest she does should be a hunger strike protesting veggies and meat, because no matter what you eat or wear, it likely exploits something.

-- ROBG

As humans we have evolved to reason at higher levels than the rest of our fellow species. We now have the capacity to understand the suffering we cause them. Wild animals don't reason at that level. I think there is a moral obligation to use our ethical reasoning and respect suffering and not cause it unnecessarily. Its silly to say other animals kill each other, so we can too. Let nature balance itself.

-- Deborah Nasmyth

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 6, 2013 A10