From anti-fur society:
OVER 67,000 PEOPLE HAVE SEEN THIS POST & YET ONLY 500 +/- SIGNED THE PETITION. HOW CAN WE GET AHEAD THEN?
TRAPPING! It is another horrendous practice in the US that has been banned in more than 85 countries in the world. WHY IS IT STILL LEGAL HERE?
OUR PETITION: http://www.antifursocietyinternational.org/petitions/fur-trapping-in-usa/petition.php – US LEGISLATORS: http://antifursocietyinternational.org/find-legislators.php
[They trap 1,000 pine marten per year. It’s like stocking a lake with trout so people can catch them. Trapping is just a sport there!]
Montana proposes for first pine marten transplant in 50 years
The agency plans to ask the Fish and Wildlife Commission at its April 10 meeting for approval to begin formally evaluating a translocation into the Belt Mountains of central Montana. Both the Big Belts and Little Belts have quality marten habitat, but current population estimates remain uncertain. An environmental assessment with input from conservation groups and the public would follow approval by the commission, the proposal said.
“They may be absent and it’s difficult to establish if there was a historical presence,” said Brian Giddings, statewide furbearer coordinator.
The Montana Field Guide describes marten as a housecat-sized weasel that typically lives in mature conifer or mixed wood forests. They generally run 21 to 26 inches long and 1.5 to 2.75 pounds. [The same kind of measurement jargon used for trout.] Males grow larger than females. They’re characterized by their light to dark brown fur, prominent ears and a bright orange or yellow throat patch.
Marten occupy much of western Montana, according to the field guide. FWP classifies them as a furbearer, and trappers routinely harvest more than 1,000 per year in the state.
Marten were planted in the southern half of the Big Belts in the 1950s, and the agency has received occasional reports of sightings, Giddings said.
“I’m a little surprised we haven’t picked up any marten in that area,” he said of FWP surveys. “We did have a report of one harvested in the Crazys back in the ’90s.”
Giddings added that beetle-killed trees in the mountain ranges could provide quality marten habitat. Marten like to hunt for animals like voles and shrews under downed logs, he said, and beetle-killed trees that fall provide microhabitats marten like.
The Belts appear to have suitable habitat to establish a self-sustaining population, according to the FWP proposal, but the isolated, island-like nature of the Belts geographically makes natural recolonization unlikely.
Kylie Paul, forest carnivore specialist for Defenders of Wildlife based out of Missoula, said her organization is definitely interested in the proposal. Paul typically works on projects with the marten’s larger cousins the fisher and wolverine. Depending on the details of the translocation, the proposal is one she thinks Defenders will endorse.
“Reintroductions can be really valuable for these midsized species,” she said.
Paul noted that research has identified two species of marten in Montana. One major detail she hopes FWP looks at is which species best fits the habitat in the Belts. Paul points to reintroductions of fishers to some areas of Montana as one indicator that such projects can work.
“Fishers reintroduced in the Swan and Cabinets have been pretty valuable for establishing a population,” she said. “Species occurring in their historic distribution is super valuable as a conservation tool and we generally support those kinds of efforts.”
Giddings stressed that approval from the commission represented the first step in the process. Details like where to transplant and where the source animals would come from would come down the road.
“It looks like it could be a good fit,” Giddings said. “Right now we’re asking for an endorsement to see how feasible it is.”
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Royal favourite Mahiki has risked riling its clientele after becoming the first nightclub in London to ban fur.
Patrons at the Mayfair nightspot will be greeted by a new neon sign donated by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, featuring the word “fur” with a slash through it.
Clubbers who are wearing fur will be refused entry, and other guests will be given “No Fur” badges at the door.
Campaigner Meg Mathews is behind the initiative and will be training the venue’s staff in how to spot fur items —as opposed to faux fur, which is allowed — judging by look and feel.
She will host an evening at the club, where visitors have included Kate Middleton, Prince Harry, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, tomorrow night, manning the door to check customers. The club plans to retain the policy.
Wrapped up: a Gucci model in fur (Picture: Splash) She said: “I love the idea of being able to show how fabulous being fur-free can be. Mahiki is one of the coolest spots in London, so it was my first choice for hosting a night to promote compassion in fashion.
“I don’t care who you are — if you’re wearing fur, you’re heartless, and you’re not coming in.”
Once a major taboo, attitudes to fur have seemed to become more lax recently as it has appeared in catwalk shows for the likes of Gucci.
But Mathews added: “Twenty years after PETA’s famous ‘I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur’ campaign began, wearing fur is now viewed with disgust. You can always find a few people who don’t care, and there will always be people so desperate for attention that they wear it just to raise eyebrows — but you can’t have any respect for someone who hears about the gassing, beating and electrocution of animals and then decides to go out wearing something made that way.
“There are so many great designers working with cruelty-free fabrics, and that’s what we should be celebrating during fashion season.”
Socialite and jewellery designer Mathews may have her hands full — celebrities spotted leaving Mahiki wearing what appeared to be fur have included Lindsay Lohan and Rihanna.
Kate Moss is a fan and last week Rita Ora was seen in a £30,000 Fendi coat made from mink and beaver fur.
PETA spokeswoman Mimi Bekhechi said: “Anyone who wants to be ‘in’ needs to know that fur is most definitely ‘out’.
“The hottest trend in fashion is compassion, so we applaud Mahiki for taking a stand against real fur.”
[This is the kind of cruelty behind Joe Namath’s fur coat:]
BOULDER, Colo., Feb. 3 (UPI) — Animal rights activists said a Colorado college student who admitted killing a raccoon with a baseball bat got off with a “slap on the wrist.”
Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett said his office declined to prosecute Jace Roberts Griffiths, 20, on a felony animal cruelty charge after Griffiths admitted killing the animal so he could “take its hide.”
Griffiths, a University of Colorado student, holds a valid state hunting license Garnett said permits him to hunt animals for their fur — which is, legally speaking, what he was doing when he killed the raccoon, the Boulder Daily Camera reported.
But Rita Anderson of the Boulder chapter of In Defense of Animals said Garnett’s office is misreading the law. The Colorado statute sets out to define legal methods of hunting animals. In the case of raccoons, the law permits shooting the animals with a shotgun, handgun or crossbow, or trapping them.
The law later states, “any method of take not listed herein shall be prohibited” — and that, Anderson said, justifies prosecution on the animal cruelty charge.
“Bludgeoning or whacking or batting is not listed,” Anderson said. “I do believe animal cruelty charges could have been brought. The hunting excuse was utterly absurd.”
Garnett, who defended his department’s handling of animal cruelty cases, said no legal precedent exists for moving forward with the charges.
“We looked very closely at that case and could not find any charges that we felt were appropriate,” Garnett said. “We had no evidence the animal was not killed quickly and painlessly.”
That didn’t satisfy Anderson or other animal rights supporters.
“We have repeatedly in group meetings spoken to [Garnett] about how cruelty to animal cases have not been given what we believe to be the right consideration,” Anderson said. “These people are getting a slap on the wrist.”
© 2014 United Press International
Wildlife Photography Copyright Jim Robertson
Still more backsliding?
Now I’m really glad I didn’t watch the Super Bowl. And let’s not forget what…I mean who the ball is made of.
From the Urban Dictionary, Definition of fur hag:
Someone who wears a ridiculous amount of fur, and doesn’t care that it supports murder.
http://mashable.com/2014/02/02/joe-namath-fur-coat-super-bowl/
New York Jets legend Joe Namath resurrected his famous flashy duds for Super Bowl XLVIII. Broadway Joe showed up on the sidelines in a fur coat reminiscent of his playing days.
The former quarterback often wore a full-length fur coat on the bench in the 1960s and ’70s — a practice that has since been banned by the NFL. The eye-catching duds had Twitter talking and wondering when the wrath of PETA will hit.
…should include one to Stop Joe Namath and other footballers from wearing fur!
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‘Chilling cruelty, unspeakable suffering and corporate denial’: the TRUE cost of the season’s must have fur-trimmed Canada Goose coat
By Laura Collins 23 January 2014
They have made America their new frontier, forging into the US clothing market to become one of the season’s most recognisable brands with sales of Canada Goose outerwear expected to top $30million this year alone.
In a high profile year in the States, Kate Upton has appeared on the front of Sports Illustrated in one of their fur trimmed, down jackets and nothing much else.
It isn’t the only firm to market such coats, yet Canada Goose has rapidly established itself as the label of choice for the well-known and the well-heeled braving the frigid weather blown in on the polar vortex.
But today MailOnline can reveal that allegations of chilling cruelty and unspeakable animal suffering have been repeatedly levelled at this family business turned multimillion dollar concern.
Scroll down for video
+11The real cost of a $600 coat: Campaigners claim the coyotes that are trapped and skinned for their fur to trim the hoods of Canada Goose coats can be in pain for days. It is unclear whether these images are from Canada Goose trappers but the firm does use the same leg holds
+11Exhausted, alone and all out of fight, this Coyote awaits its inevitable fate having been caught in a trap by its right hind leg
According to animal rights activists, behind every fur trimmed hood and down stuffed coat is a brutal reality of Coyotes trapped and left to suffer in the wilderness.
Many of today’s ethically aware consumers would never dream of buying a full length fur. But in an odd quirk of the current trend for this style of garment those same shoppers pull on a coyote trimmed coat without a moment’s concern for the origins of that little flurry of fur.
Lindsay Rajt, Director of Campaigns for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said: ‘Canada Goose uses exclusively Coyote fur on the trim of their coats and those animals are trapped in a way that is just inherently cruel.’
According to a spokesperson for the firm: ‘The trapping of fur-bearing animals is strictly regulated by the provincial and territorial wildlife departments in Canada.
‘We purchase coyote furs from certified Canadian trappers, never from fur farms or endangered animals.
+11Kate Upton going ‘Polar Bare’ on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s 2013 Swimsuit edition, wearing a smile, a white Canada Goose parka and not much else
But PETA has dismissed the standards as ‘window dressing.’
Mr Rajt said: ‘The company’s reference to AIHTS standards is meaningless and a way of placating and silencing people with valid concerns.
‘Leg hold traps are still legal in Canada. Mother animals will chew off their limbs in order to get back to their young. The trapped animal might be there for days before the trapper comes and finds them, they are frightened and starving and in pain during that time. And then they’re bludgeoned or strangled to death or shot.’
+11A trapped Coyote howls in pain, its right forepaw held tight in the jaws of a leg hold trap – legal under the AIHTS but cruel according to PETA
+11Trapped Coyotes can struggle to get free for days until the hunter returns to check his traps. Mother animals separated from their young attempt to chew off their own limbs in a bid for freedom
Ms Rajt revealed that PETA is this week appealing to Canada Goose to abandon their use of fur in favour of synthetic alternatives and to dump their use of real down stuffing.
She said: ‘PETA is reaching out to Canada Goose to urge the company to switch to innovative, synthetic fur like their top competitor Helly Hansen, which has been fur-free for many years.
‘Additionally, we are asking that Canada Goose dump down and opt for revolutionary synthetic technology like the one recently developed by The North Face – Thermoball, which mimics down but offers superior versality.’
Ms Rajt claimed: ‘We have been trying to meet with this company, we’ve been trying to engage with them since 2006.
‘The CEO originally agreed to meet with us in 2008 to discuss trapping policies and methods but just never confirmed that meeting and then failed to make himself available to any of our follow ups.
‘It is a challenging company for us to work with.’
+11Meg Ryan pictured last month in New York’s West Village. Canada Goose’s concerted effort to win the US market has seen it become a celebrity brand of choice
+11Andrew Garfield and girlfriend Emma Stone in their Canada Goose parkas on a shopping trip in New York
+11Actress Clare Danes wearing her Canada Goose parka with its distinctive Coyote trim while braving the New York chill
But according to a spokesperson for the company: ‘We’ve corresponded with PETA on numerous occasions and it quickly became evident that they were not interested in a constructive conversation.’
Canada Goose was founded in 1957 and has enjoyed remarkable success and rapid growth across the past decade when it started marketing it’s ‘truly Canadian’ ethos to Europe.
Today the company employs more than 1000 people and sells its products in more than 50 countries across the world.
It continues to manufacture its coats in Toronto and Winnipeg but recently opened its first US Headquarters in Denver, Colorado. Last year it became the official sponsor of the Sundance Film Festival and US Equity firm, Bain, recently bought a majority stake in the hitherto entirely Canadian enterprise.
+11Real fur real suffering: Canada Goose President Dani Reese flanked by his company’s distinctive outerwear. He says the company uses Coyote fur ‘because it works’
+11The extreme weather outerwear is manufactured in Toronto and Winnipeg though US Equity firm, Bain, now owns a majority stakehold
+11Founded in 1957 the family company Canada Goose now employs more than 1000 people and sells its garments in more than 50 countries
Canada Goose President Danni Reiss is very clear in his assessment of the importance of the US market to his brand. He said, ‘The States is a market with one of the greatest potentials in the world. The US is growing faster than the overall company.’
Speaking in a corporate video Mr Reiss explained: ‘We use Coyote fur for a number of reasons. Number one, Coyote fur works – it’s functional, it provides warmth around the face in a way no synthetic fabric can. It does that in the coldest places on earth and it is important to realise that sometimes urban centres and cities can feel like the coldest places on earth.’
Coyote fur doesn’t freeze, doesn’t hold moisture, retains heat and is biodegradable.
Ms Rajt dismissed the necessity of real fur saying: ‘They actually do have some faux fur trim products and there’s a market for that. There’s no reason why they couldn’t switch completely.’
A spokesperson for Canada Goose said: ‘We understand PETA’s concerns and we respect the right of people to choose not to wear fur, however, we know PETA does not respect our ethical, responsible use of fur so further conversation won’t be productive.’
But Ms Rajt insisted: ‘I just don’t believe that half the people wearing these coats understand what’s really involved in the making of them. And I just don’t believe that they would make that same choice if it was an informed one.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2544075/Revealed-Chilling-cruelty-unspeakable-suffering-corporate-denial-Is-TRUE-cost-seasons-Canada-Goose-coat.html#ixzz2rYL8KOiR Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Demand for fur has market at 30-year high, Montana trappers say
by Martin Kidston
The demand for fur is on the rise and prices are booming, providing a windfall to Montana trappers who say their industry has hit a 30-year high.
And market indicators suggest the demand – and the prices that follow – will continue to increase as buyers in China, Russia and Korea watch their incomes grow.
“Trappers are seeing an increase in their paychecks in the state of Montana,” said Toby Walrath, president of the Montana Trappers Association. “The market is strong and improving. It’s a good time to be a trapper right now.”
Montana trappers received $2.7 million in income in 2012 from the sale of raw fur, according to the Montana Trappers Association. This year’s state auction also paid out $230,000 for the pelts of prized species, including those monitored by state game officials.
Walrath, who heads the state organization from his Corvallis home, said the money brought in by trappers circulates beyond the trapping community. It extends to taxidermists, in-state furriers, hotels and sporting good stores, such as Wholesale Sports in Missoula, which now sells trapping supplies.
“The economic impact is pretty significant,” Walrath said. “I think it’s far more significant than people realize. There’s money to be made by lots of people.”
Walrath’s confidence in the industry has been backed by national reports. A recent story by National Public Radio said the retail fur industry held an estimated worth of $15.5 billion last year – an increase of 45 percent from 10 years ago.
The jump in prices is driven largely by overseas demand, where residents in China, Russia and Korea are seeing their incomes grow. Residents in wealthier countries like Canada, Sweden and Switzerland also remain buyers.
Fashion designers are driving the trade’s resurgence by incorporating more fur into their clothing lines. One British magazine reported that nearly 70 percent of fall collections included some form of fur.
Walrath’s own pelts have been fashioned into mittens and hats.
“In China, fur is a fashion statement, and they’re looking at the longer coats,” Walrath said. “In Russia, it’s more of a practical use than a fashion statement. In the U.S., fur is being used for
trim around hoods on coats, cuffs on sleeves, and collars, things like that.”
***
Current estimates suggest Montana is home to 6,000 active trappers and houndsmen. Rising pelt prices provide most trappers with a supplementary income. For a few, Walrath said, fur sales may represent their primary income.
Trappers have several options when selling their furs. They may work directly with a furrier, or trust their pelts to a country buyer, who works on behalf of a national furrier looking for pelts of certain species, color and quality.
National and international auction houses also buy directly from trappers. Walrath said auction house representatives collect furs periodically from certain drop-off points across the state.
“The fur is shipped to that auction house, the buyers come, they bid and pay the money, and the house cuts the trappers a check,” Walrath said. “If you bring it to a state-sanctioned auction or an international auction, you’ll receive more money than if you go to a country buyer.”
In many cases, the furs harvested from Montana might be sold alongside pelts taken from mink ranches and fox farms. Whatever the offering, Walrath said, the buyers compete for the furs, driving up prices as they bid.
The larger auctions include those held by the North American Fur Auction, headquartered in Toronto, and Fur Harvester Auction Inc., based in North Bay, Ontario.
“You don’t really know what prices you’ll receive beforehand,” Walrath said. “Asking what a fur is worth is like asking what your house is worth, or what your car is worth. It depends on the quality, the season, how it was handled, and what’s in demand at that time.”
All states but one also claim an active trappers association, which hold annual fur sales. The sale hosted by the Montana Trappers Association attracts five to 10 national buyers each year.
***
Jim Buell, who lives in Gildford and serves as director of the National Trappers Association, said Montana trappers display their pelts at the state auction, and buyers name their price through a silent bid.
“The Montana Trappers Association holds a fur sale each spring, around the third week in March, and there are several fur buyers who attend that sale,” said Buell. “By that time, there’s usually a sale in Toronto, so local buyers can set their prices off the international market.”
Prices are increasing for bobcat pelts, as well as marten, Walrath said. Other articles, including mink and beaver, are flat. Beaver pelts are difficult to prepare, cutting into the price margin and driving up costs.
Walrath said the price of a pelt may also be set by where the animal was harvested. A raccoon fur from Montana, he said for example, will typically fetch a higher price than the same pelt taken from South Carolina.
“There’s a very high demand for furs, particularly muskrat, in China,” said Walrath. “They’re buying a lot of fur and they’re paying really good prices for it. There’s a big population of people there, and they have money to spend on that stuff.”
4
As is often the case, I awoke this morning to the sensation of our cat walking gingerly across my head. Sleek and silky, with luxuriant dark fur, Winnie reminds me of the river otter I saw yesterday afternoon crossing the road and heading upstream into our backyard beaver pond system.
I’d been hoping the otter I have been seeing in the waterways nearby would find our ponds, which are fed by several small streams flowing out of the surrounding hills. Though the ponds turn a light brown this time of year from the clay-rich soil leaching from their banks, they support a healthy variety of life, from frogs, fish and crawdads; to ducks, herons, kingfishers and osprey; to beaver, muskrat, raccoon, mink…and now otter.
A descendant of the diverse weasel family, the river otter is a pinnacle of evolution if ever there were one. While their kin adapted to every other habitat in North America—the ermine and pine marten, to the snowy north woods; fisher, the ancient forests; mink, the riparian zones; badger, the arid plains; and wolverine, the mountainous high country—river otters are masters of inland waterways and freshwater lakes. To those who know them, “otter” is synonymous with the word “play.” Among the most spirited of species, they clearly enjoy themselves in the water, delighting in games with each other like tag and hide-and-go-seek. They also enjoy snow sports: otter “slides” are a familiar sight on snowy slopes along frozen rivers in winter.
Like every other fur-bearer on the continent, otters were nearly decimated during the mindless fur trade era. Unbelievably, otters are still killed in traps set by nineteenth century throw-backs even today. Others are shot by selfish humans unwilling to share aquatic resources that otters had adapted to hundreds of thousands of years before Homo sapiens reached the Western Hemisphere.
The threat of human greed is even more pervasive for sea otters, who have all but lost their ability to move about on land, giving themselves and their terrestrial origins up to their oceanic habitat. Unlike commercial fishermen, they don’t sit out the storms in a cozy home or a dry shack heated by an oil furnace; they spend day and night floating among the coastal kelp beds.
River otter are more than welcome to stay as long as they like here in our beaver ponds. Hopefully we’ll get an occasional glimpse of them swimming fluidly by, or moving on land with their trademark weasel-esque, undulating lope. I’m just glad Winnie is lighter afoot when she tip-toes across my head in the morning.
http://www.ussportsmen.org/trapping/americas-top-10-threats-to-trapping-2/
Posted on August 22, 2012
Courtesy of the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance/ http://www.ussportsmen.org.
There are many forces in America working to end trapping and wise wildlife management. Here are a few of those anti-trapping groups:
1- Sierra Club—this group’s board of directors has let America know it opposes any and all trapping—period. The official Sierra Club statement reads: “The Sierra Club considers body-gripping, restraining and killing traps and snares to be ecologically indiscriminate and unnecessarily inhumane and therefore opposes their use.” This position earns this group a No. 1 spot.
2- PETA—best known for being wackos, this group opposes fur, trapping and anything non-vegan. PETA also wanted to “trap” and euthanize problem hogs in Florida to prevent them from being hunted.
3- Humane Society of the United States—this radical animal rights group lists trapping as wildlife abuse. This group is currently being sued for violation of federal racketeering laws.
4- American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (alias ASPCA)—states openly on its website that “The ASPCA is against the use of leg-hold or body gripping traps to capture wild animals because of the pain and distress that they cause.” The group also opposes hunting.
5- Defenders of Wildlife—this group opposes wolf hunting and trapping, and launched an aggressive on-line campaign to skew an Idaho wolf trapping survey in its favor. D o W reported it had 39,000 followers overwhelm the Idaho Game and Fish Commission’s website.
6- Born Free USA—this radical animal rights group labels trapping as “barbaric” and has a trapping victims fund to help cover veterinarian costs for animals—including wildlife—caught in traps. It distributes a free “How to Organize an Anti-Trapping Campaign” booklet through its Animal Protection Institute group.
7- In Defense of Animals—opposes trapping and has created a “furkills” website to promote the group’s propaganda—and to collect funds. The group also encourages followers to create a display in their local public library to display leaflets, posters, and books about the cruelty involved in trapping or leg-hold traps.
8- Animal Welfare Institute: Opposes trapping and is pushing the Refuge from Cruel Trapping Act in Congress to end trapping on national wildlife refuges. Filed a lawsuit in 2008 to stop coyote and fox trapping in Maine under the guise of protecting Canada lynx.
9- Center for Biological Diversity: has campaigns underway to stop wolf trapping and hunting in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, and another in New Mexico to save Mexican gray wolves. Some of the group’s “urgent letters of action” also includes requests for donations to end trapping.
10- Footloose Montana—works to oppose wolf trapping and the management of these large predators in Montana while other wildlife species, like elk, dwindle in numbers at the hands, or paws, of wolves. Also works to end trapping on public lands.
As you can tell, trappers and hunters need to work together to overcome these radical forces…
Exposing the Big Game 
