A manager came into the office the other day showing off her nice new gloves. She was terribly happy with them and announced that they were made of mink, chincilla and pony. Just about all the office were offended by this…
Now, I wasn’t there and heard about it later. Presuming at some point in the future we have a discussion about said gloves. Am I in fact a hypocrite for feeling outrage that someone should buy and wear mink, rabbits etc. real fur, when in fact I wear leather everyday and don’t bat an eyelid?
Disclaimer: I wouldn’t read the factsheet below if you get particularly upset at tales of animal suffering. Thought its better to be safe than sorry, so tags on.
“Fur farms totally suppress any natural behavioural instincts of the mink, resulting in self-mutilation, cannibalism and psychotic behaviour”
and
“Some have likened the floor area of the cage to the size of two shoe-boxes [2]. These are bare wire cages, usually but not always with a wooden nest box (rarely with any straw bedding) attached. The partially webbed feet of the mink mean that walking on the coarse, wide mesh is uncomfortable; not that they can actually walk far. Cages witnesses by CAFT-UK investigators are not even high enough to allow the prisoners to stand fully upright, which mink do to sniff the air to scent prey or danger.”
Well, I think everyone has the right to set his/her own lines as far as what is ok and what isn’t.
That said, I tend to not get outraged about much, as I know I support many of the same types of behaviour that I might condemn in other industries. For example, I support (a.k.a. buy from) the meat industry in most all its forms. I know that many of the animals that supply the meat I eat are treated quite horribly. I don’t approve of that, yet I support it. Am I a hypocrite? Some may say so, but I feel that it’s just that the importance of the issue to me is at a level that allows me to on occasion buy things from people who run nasty industries.
Everything is a spectrum, and I don’t think I need to be 100% against something or 100% for it. I can participate somewhat, even if I find it a bit distasteful (the industry, not the meat).
I try to buy local when I can find/afford it, and for me, in my own personal reckoning, that’s good enough.
That said (and getting back a bit to the OP), finding something distasteful to yourself is one thing. Being angry at another person about it when you yourself probably support similar industries is a bit much. IMHO, of course.
I don’t ‘do’ fur but I do eat meat and wear some leather.
My guilt free rule for eating meat is simple-I won’t eat anything that has been tortured or killed inhumanly which is why I raise my own cows and chickens or buy beef from a farmer that I lnow personally.
Domestic farm animals have developed a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship with human over the centuries.
Minks have not.
Thanks for the responses. I shall just stick with “I don’t agree with it”, “wouldn’t buy them myself” lines. I’m hardly incandescent with rage here, but I do see some inconsistency in my berating the person in question…
I eat meat (even veal), wear leather, and own some fur (a fox collar). I guess it bothers me somewhat with regard to fashion. I have friends who won’t even wear leather shoes or belts. I won’t own ivory and don’t want anything to do with endangered animal skins but the ones that are abundant on the planet…I dunno. I don’t feel all that bad about it. I purchase leather, but have never purchased any fur items.
Personally, I’m bothered by anything that was killed just for its pelt. I wouldn’t want to be without my leather boots or jackets, but I feel better about that because the insides got eaten as well. That’s probably just rationalization, but it works for me.
I justify my leather goods this way as well. The fox collar…I feel sorta bad about it, but I didn’t buy it. I don’t think it’s an endangered type of fox, so I can sleep at night.
Everything short of vegetarianism is rationalization, but it seems like a reasonable one to me. Of course, I’m not a vegetarian so it’s easy for me to say.
The old saw is that everything about the cow is utilized except the “Moo”. So, it is highly unlikely that the cow was slaughtered for the leather alone. I’m not Kosher, but I’ve always respected the concept that one should be suitably humble that a life was taken to sustain another.* Beef steaks and roasts in the grocery store are part of our survival. I’ve never heard anyone brag about that terrific mink chop they had last night. To me, cow leather seems fine.
*I hope I got that right; someone please correct me if I really messed up.