# Why is fur bad, but leather is OK? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 18, 2005, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fur-bad-but-leather-is-ok/336154 "2005-12-18T11:12:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fur-bad-but-leather-is-ok/336154/41 "2005-12-19T18:51:06Z")
> [@Agent Foxtrot](#): > > **Crafter\_Man** , who are you quoting here? I don’t see the post you’re quoting anywhere in the thread. Or did I miss something? > > Adam **Makei III**. His post seems to have disappeared. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fur-bad-but-leather-is-ok/336154/42 "2005-12-19T23:14:59Z")
I agree that it’ll be hard to get an unbiased answer here. There’s just too much misinformation floating around. For example: > [@davenportavenger](#): > > …leather is practical, while fur (at least, fancy women’s fur coats) is generally not. Leather is a great insulator… So let me get this straight. If I cure the hide and shave it, it’s a great insulator, but if I take off the hair, it isn’t? Hmmm. Interesting physics there. My wife’s fur coat is one of the warmest coats she owns. Ditto my deerskin gloves with the fur on the inside. > [@Blake](#): > > You are killing animals for the sole purpose of turning their skins into a fashion accesory. Since when is a warm coat, glove, or hat a “fashion accessory”? It’s a _necessity_ in the colder climes. And the “sole purpose” part of your statement is discussed elsewhere in the thread. > [@Blake](#): > > Fur animals are wild animals You’ve never visited a mink or rabbit farm, I presume? > [@Blake](#): > > The people who object to fur usually object to exotic leather goods as well, such as crocodile or ostrich, and for much the same reasons. …or an alligator farm or an ostrich farm? > [@DrDeth](#): > > Weoll, I think the real reason is that few people wear fur (and those are mostly either the rich or models) and many of us wear leather. Personally, I think a good part of the reason is fear. Would you want to wear a good coat (any good coat) if you thought some vandal would assault you with a bucket of paint and ruin it? Incidentally, it’s not just rich folks. My good calf-length leather jacket cost me approximately the same as my wife’s fur coat cost her, and neither one was “rich folks” territory. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fur-bad-but-leather-is-ok/336154/43 "2005-12-20T00:42:50Z")
> [@lalaith](#): > > I’m not going to claim I know a lot about rabbit fur farms. However, I do know a lot about rabbits. I kept rabbits as house pets for many years. Years ago there were not many books about rabbits as pets. Most of the books were written for commercial breeders. Consequently, I have read a lot about this though it was a topic that appalled me. (How would you feel reading a book that discussed the slaughter of the dog warming your feet? I’m also not fond of flipping through a cookbook and see a recipe for bunny in it.) > > In general, bunnies (excluding rabbits shot in the wild) slaughtered for food are done so when they are quite young, usually not too long after they are weaned. Maybe it’s because the meat is more tender. Maybe it’s because that’s a good portion size. Fur bunnies are older when killed since they would be larger and you get a bigger pelt. I don’t know what happens to the rest of the remains, probably it’s the same thing that happens to mink or chinchilla remains. > > And you can just guess what my opinion is of using these wonderful, affectionate creatures as food or clothing. Chinchillas can be kept as pets, too. I knew a family that had a sort of animal farm with lots of exotic pets and one time they had chinchillas. They were the softest, sweetest little things you ever did see. It makes me sick to think that they’re kept mostly for fur. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fur-bad-but-leather-is-ok/336154.md?page=2)