Animal-friendly use for that old fur coat

Opinion

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This article was published 31/10/2019 (2146 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fur fashion has become controversial in recent years. Once considered luxurious, natural and necessary, fur is now rife with ethical dilemmas, as the public becomes more exposed to the horrors of how it is procured, and the environmental damage caused by its production.

Fur trapping and selling has been banned in the state of California. Fur farms have been banned, or so restricted they essentially no longer exist, across much of the European Union. And retail giants Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s just announced it will no longer sell fur by the end of 2020.

Fur fashion is certainly going out of fashion. So what are you to do with that old fur coat that’s been passed down for generations, or that designer fur-trimmed jacket you bought a few years ago? Some local animal rescue groups want you to hand them over, to make something good out of something arguably awful.

“It’s good karma,” says Debra Vandekerkhove, director of Manitoba Animal Alliance (formerly Norway House Animal Rescue), “a way to be able to contribute to saving animals.” The group has been taking in fur coats for the past five years, to help dogs up north.

“Manitoba Animal Alliance cuts down the fur coats and removes the lining and uses it to line dog houses and create entry flaps on dog houses to keep cold wind out,” she says. “Many of the volunteer fosters up north rely on the dog houses and the fur coats to help keep dogs toasty warm until they can be sent down (to Winnipeg) into rescue placement.”

The group has received about 50 coats so far, including one very expensive full-length mink coat. “It was donated from a granddaughter who inherited it, and she wanted it to go directly to help save animals’ lives and keep them warm. She felt that her grandmother would have wanted to do that, as well.”

Vandekerkhove says donating fur is also a good way to erase its carbon footprint. “Fur coats have production carbon footprints. You are removing that carbon footprint by allowing it to be recycled into multiple uses.”

The Fur Bearers, a Canadian advocacy group, says 80 per cent of animals killed for fur in the country are farmed, and farmed fur outscores other textiles by two to 28 times in terms of environmental damage. “For each kilogram of factory-farmed mink fur, 110 kilograms of carbon dioxide is produced; enough to drive a car from Toronto to Saint John, New Brunswick,” according to the group’s website.

But if your fur is less floor-length Cruella de Vil and more J.Lo-style coyote trimmed, the Winnipeg Humane Society has a different solution. Working with Canadian brand Wuxly Movement — known for its high-end, animal-free outerwear — the society says your designer fur-trimmed or down-filled jacket, such as Canada Goose, Mackage, Mooseknuckles, etc., can be used toward Wuxly’s Trade Up program.

“Wuxly assesses the value and provides a credit up to $275 that you can use towards a Wuxly coat,” society communications strategist Lenore Hume says. The donated coats then go to local charities like Siloam Mission, “so the coat does not go to waste.” The society has Wuxly Movement coat samples on-site for those who want to try them on.

Hume notes the society does not support the wearing of animal fur. Its animal welfare consultant, Brittany Semeniuk, adds, “Coyotes are taxonomically practically the same as the pet dogs within our shelter.”

Animals trapped or farmed for fur can suffer horribly (think leg-hold traps, anal electrocution, etc.), so if you’re feeling weird about wearing fur, you definitely have ample reason. And if you want to right the wrongs of that fur, you certainly now have options.

Jessica Scott-Reid is a Winnipeg writer and animal/environmental advocate.