For any project I could, I would base it around animal welfare. I wrote a particular essay called 'Animal Alternatives', in which I gathered information on the main animal products used for clothing, the methods used to obtain these products and the man made alternative.
I am vegetarian. I do not wear leather, fur or wool. Not wearing wool was more recent, probably about 4 years ago and that was when I first tried to become vegan. I recently tried for a second time to become vegan and found it very difficult, for various reasons. I will be vegan one day when I more prepared for it, but in the meantime, I will live my live as cruelty free as I can.
Please note: Any information I use in this post is fully referenced on my essay and has been gathered over years from various sources including Peta, television documentaries, books and the internet.
Wool
What's wrong with wool? Plenty of people would ask this question.
Being vegetarian, I do not eat meat. I will also not wear by-products of slaughter. Some wool is actually called skin wool and is ripped from sheep when they are slaughtered, as PETA explains.
Mulesing is a barbaric procedure, carried out on Merino sheep. This procedure is illegal in the UK but is often carried out in Australia. Merinos are bred to have very wrinkled skin, therefore producing more wool. These folds of skin are a perfect place for flys to lay eggs and can cause flystrike. To prevent this from happening, sheep are tied to a post by their legs. Huge areas of skin are cut off, with no anesthetic. As the area heals, it produces a smooth area of scarred skin that will not hold fly eggs.
Leather
The amount of times I have heard someone say ' but cows aren't killed for leather!'. Yes they are. As Care2 explains, much of the worlds leather comes from India's cows. Cows are expected to walk miles to their slaughter without food or water. If they are tired and stop, chilli is rubbed into their eyes or their tail is broken to get them moving again. When cows arrive at the slaughter house, they are often skinned alive in full view of each other. It is not just cows killed for their skin. Pigs, goats, snakes, kangaroos and many other species are subjected to this awful fate. Most of the leather sold in uk comes from India or China, so the chances are, the animal you're wearing was skinned alive and if it wasn't, it would have undergone horrendous treatment.
Fur
Everybody knows that animals are killed for fur, but not everybody knows the truth behind it. For me, the absolute worst part of the fur trade is the fact that many animals are SKINNED ALIVE! Animals who meet with this horrendous fate will often be crammed into tiny cages, where they will break limbs or suffocate to death. Will be kept in filthy conditions and get to watch their fellow animals be barbarically killed. Other methods of torture used to obtain fur are:
Trapping
Animals are caught in steel jaw traps in the wild. Many die in agony from their injuries or are killed by non human predators. Others will actually chew off their own limbs to escape.
Gassing
Animals such as Mink are often gassed and are there for suffocated to death.
Electrocution
Often animals are orally or anally electrocuted with a metal probe.
More about the fur trade
Most fur sold around the world comes from China, a country with little or no animal welfare laws.
I will never forget watching a documentary about the fur trade in China (I can't remember what it was called). A dog was skinned alive, when all the fur was gone, the camera showed a close up of it blinking. The poor thing was still alive and was dumped onto a pile of skinned dogs, many of which would have been alive.
In the UK, we are generally a nation of animal lovers. Many people are particularily close to their dogs and cats. The average person wouldn't expect that any fur sold in shops would be domestic dog and cat fur, but it is! Not all of it of course, but there are no strict rules or regulations on labelling fur.
Another misconception about fur is that it is expensive. Not always! I consider myself an expert at knowing if something is real fur or not and I have seen plenty of clothing with real fur trims in cheap fashion clothes shops. On holiday once, I saw one of those cat in a basket ornaments and when I picked it up, it was actually made from really fur. How disgusting, that a real animal is skinned to make a fake animal!
A more recent revelation to me and many others was the exposure of Angora farming, where screaming rabbits have fur ripped from their backs. Of course, this is no different from the down industry where birds have their feathers ripped out while they are alive. Both equally disgusting!
The sad thing is about all of the above is that it doesn't even come close to describing the suffering that these beautiful, innocent animals go through!
Animal Alternatives
Nowadays, there are so many clothing options to replace the animal versions. Acrylic replaces wool and there is even a brand called Polartec, where some of their fleece fabrics are made from recycled plastic bottles. There are plenty of realistic faux furs and faux leather available now. Yes, they are man made, and yes they do affect the environment. Polyurethane, for example is an alternative to leather. It is used in millions/billions of products that are not clothing related and will be produced anyway. I understand that people care about the environment. I do too, I always recycle!
Here is a picture of my 'FAKE' jacket (also above) I designed and manufactured it using a high quality faux fur fabric, polyurethane and cotton. I chose red for the lining and lettering to symbolise the blood from animals killed for fashion.
My opinion is that it is far worse to barbarically torture and kill animals for the 'real' version of these products, than it is to buy the 'man made' fake version and contribute towards pollution. Many animals killed for their skin are factory farmed and factory farming is one of the biggest causes of Global Warming!
What do you think?
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