Like so many in the industry, Dan Kahnert’s relationship with fur is a family affair. “My great-grandfather learned the fur trade in Germany and came to Canada in the late 1800s. His son, my grandfather, moved to Toronto where he would travel around taking orders, and then cut and sew coats in his home. It was my father, Allan, who opened our first showroom on Avenue Road in 1957, where Kahnert’s is still located.

“I would help out at the store on weekends, and decided by the end of high school that I wanted to join the family business. That’s what I did in 1984, after completing my degree in economics and business at the University of Western Ontario. I arrived home with all my college furniture and everything on April 30 and began working full-time in the store the next day; it was storage season and there was no time for a break!

“We worked hard, six days a week, but I enjoyed the challenges of running a business, being our own bosses, analysing problems and implementing a plan. My older brothers, Bernie and John, were already working at the store with my father, and John and I still run the business together today. It really helped that dad was very open to letting us try new ideas, like when I brought in computers in the 1990s.”

"A Pleasure Doing Business"

So what does Dan like best about being a retail furrier?

“In addition to working with my brother and running our own business, what I enjoy most is the opportunity to meet lots of new people. While not every customer is easy, as everyone working in retail knows, generally we meet lots of very nice people. When we say, ‘It’s been a pleasure doing business with you,’ it’s not just a cliché, it really is how we feel.”

We are proud to do our part to promote fur on behalf of all the people who make up this uniquely Canadian heritage industry!

“Fur retailing does have one very important advantage: we see our customers twice a year, for storage pick-up and delivery. This continuing relationship with our customers is quite unique. When customers come into the store in the Fall to pick up their coats, we have an opportunity to show them our new collections, and a large proportion of our sales are to repeat customers. Repairs, alterations, and remodelling are also important parts of our business, and, again, we have an opportunity to discuss these options with our customers at storage time.

“But the bottom line is that, as a retailer, your success depends on satisfying your customer. We are located in a wonderful residential neighbourhood and therefore do not rely on tourist sales that might occur in downtown Toronto. We rely on community word of mouth with support from our online business. We have one of the city’s best collections of high-quality coats, and we work hard to take good care of every customer."

Adapting to Animal Rights Campaigns

How has the business changed over the years?

“There’s no way around it, aggressive animal rights campaigning has hurt us," says Dan. "Most people still love fur, but the activists have made them feel nervous about wearing it. Some of these intimidation campaigns are really a form of violence against women, which is very sad.

“Unfortunately, we have difficulty getting across our messages about the real environmental advantages of wearing fur. Fur is a sustainably produced, long-lasting, recyclable and biodegradable natural material. Animal activists have created very damaging confusion about the real environmental issues. It makes no sense telling people to use petroleum-based synthetics instead of long-lasting natural and biodegradable materials. The saddest thing is that most consumers we speak with do appreciate the warmth, comfort and beauty of natural fur, but they feel intimidated.

Fur, unfortunately, has become a scapegoat ... We don’t have the financial or professional clout that large corporations can muster to tell their story when they are attacked.

“We have adapted, of course: we will sell our customer a shearling coat – because, ironically, shearling is not seen as fur. Or a fur-lined coat. We have also added cashmere and other cloth coats, with or without fur trim. Not because there’s anything wrong with fur, but because fur has been tangled up in a very complex societal discussion about using animals, which includes everything from medical research to circuses to eating meat.

"Fur, unfortunately, has become a scapegoat, because we are really a very small-scale industry. We don’t have the financial or professional clout that large corporations can muster to tell their story when they are attacked.”

After the Pandemic?

So how do you see the future of fur retailing?

“I don’t think fur will ever really go out of style, because it is so in tune with growing environmental concerns," says Dan. "We have to keep working on telling that story. But ultimately it is up to the consumer to make an educated decision on the benefits of buying fur products."

So what about the Covid-19 pandemic? Will that have a lasting impact?

“In more than thirty years in business, I have seen many highs and lows, and for sure the industry will be very different once the pandemic ends and we get through this difficult period.

"For one thing, every sector of the industry will be smaller in scale. I think fur is likely to be more of a niche market, for those who appreciate high-quality natural materials and fine craftsmanship. I think there’s a percentage of the population that will be ready to appreciate fur as a natural, truly environmentally sustainable clothing material. But it’s always hard to predict what consumers will decide.

"We are on the front line with consumers, and we are proud to do our part to promote fur on behalf of all the people who make up this uniquely Canadian heritage industry!”

SEE ALSO: Fur retail: The art and science of making sales. Truth About Fur.

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To learn more about donating to Truth About Fur, click here.

With the slogan #Reconnect - Time to Slow Down, a new campaign by the International Fur Federation urges designers, independent brands, fashion groups as well as consumers to change their consumption habits to help the planet. Sustainable sourcing, producing less, reducing waste, reducing pollution, buying fewer but higher quality garments, and wearing them for longer. This reflects growing criticism of the environmental harm caused by our “fast fashion” culture, while also highlighting fur’s solid credentials as a sustainable natural resource.

SEE ALSO: The sustainability of fur. Truth About Fur.

So what does it take to create a campaign like this? Truth About Fur talked with the man responsible for pulling it all together, IFF's fashion director Jean-Pierre Rouphael.

Truth About Fur: The principal video for this campaign contains a powerful indictment of the fast fashion scene: "Just spend your money, shelf it, wear it, post it, chuck it, REPEAT." As an alternative, you urge us to "Reconnect" with nature, and give it a helping hand by buying fewer garments and wearing them for longer. It's "Time to Slow Down." Support for this sentiment has been growing in recent years, and many in the trade believe fur should be part of this movement. Is it time to put it centre stage?

Jean-Pierre Rouphael: Yes, the conversation has been brewing for a while and keeps aligning closer to the fur industry's values, so the world is definitely ready for this. At IFF, we've been developing this message for the past three years, and this campaign is a continuation. In 2018, we began presenting fur as "natural" and '"kind to the planet", and promoted this heavily via Vogue magazine in eight markets. This has helped influence the media conversation about natural fur versus fake fur, and more broadly has given the fur industry a voice in the sustainable fashion conversation. Our latest campaign builds on this same message, while staying consistent and focused.

TAF: A consistent message makes sense for the fur trade, given that our sustainability credentials are so strong. But while you were developing this campaign, the Covid-19 pandemic struck. Has that changed fashion conversations at all?

Rouphael: It has definitely further prioritised the sustainability agenda and put it at the forefront of those conversations. The pandemic has shown in practice the positives that happen once we slow down - cleaner air, cleaner waters, a nature reboot. People have found a new appreciation for nature, and the industry is taking notice.

The pandemic has also changed the way fashion conversations are taking place. Before Covid, key fashion conferences were typically expensive affairs, for paying guests only. But the pandemic has pushed them to open up, so now anyone can log in remotely from home via Zoom, and be part of what were formerly closed conversations. The pandemic has also given us more free time to listen in, making it easier for us to put our hand on the industry's pulse.

Pulse of the Industry

TAF: And what have you learned? What is the "pulse" of the industry?

Rouphael: We are delighted to see that the fashion industry today is calling for the exact same things the fur industry has been advocating for many years. Quality, long-lasting, handmade, investment pieces made from sustainable materials and not depleting nature's resources. Overall, a promotion of slower fashion.

And this provided the base for our current campaign. We believe that natural fur is exactly the kind of material the fashion industry is calling for right now. For every quality the fashion industry wants to promote, a fur garment checks all the boxes.

Our task was to transform this concept into a campaign that is visual, educational, aspirational, and easily absorbable by end consumers.

"It Takes an Army"

TAF: Your behind-the-scenes photos show that a lot of people were involved in bringing this campaign to life.

Rouphael: All IFF campaigns are big collaborative projects. They start in-house, but once we've defined what we want to say, we invite outside parties to join. And when they say it takes an army, it's true! Almost 50 people were involved in different capacities in this campaign.

After the director and I agreed the visual direction to take and signed the storyboard, we set about choosing the best team, and the list was long! We needed a producer, a director of photography, lighting, retouching, hair and makeup, a casting director, a stylist, a behind-the-scenes photographer and videographer, a location manager, an editor, a copywriter, someone for voiceovers, a catering manager, and assistants all round.

Plus, of course, we needed a cast of models, and it was important to us that they represent a broad mix of ethnicities, as well as different shapes and sizes.

TAF: Didn't Covid-19 have an impact here too? The IFF is based in London. Wasn't there a lockdown?

Rouphael: It's not generally known that we actually shot the campaign in Dubai! The Covid rules were more relaxed there, and the budget was more affordable. Even so, we were all tested Covid-free prior to and post the 14-hour shoot, and had a government medic assigned to us throughout.

Still, Dubai did present some challenges. For one, we shot part of the campaign outdoors, and when the temperature tops 40°C it's not ideal for modelling fur! But the models and the team were ultra-professional, and you really can't tell from the videos and photos how difficult it was.

We also had to find a location with massive panoramic windows with green backdrops so we could shoot indoors but make it look like we were outdoors. And then there was the challenge of getting the fashion into Dubai as Covid was delaying shipments. For this reason, the stylist and I limited the number of brands we used and chose ones which were geographically closer. Still, we ended up with nine brilliant brands, and about 15 looks.

And after the actual shoot, we then had the post-production tasks of editing the videos, selecting the final photographs, and deciding the mood for retouching.

Last but not least, our website developer created a page to host all the new content, and compiled a media kit to deliver to all IFF members around the world.

Measuring Success

TAF: Once a shoot is a wrap, how do you launch a campaign and then measure its success?

Rouphael: The main objective of all our recent campaigns has been to position fur as part of responsible natural fashion, with an emphasis on its sustainability. At the same time, of course, we want to keep fur's image current and fashionable.

Every year, and depending on our budget, we work out a media plan pre-release and identify global print, digital and social media outlets we want to collaborate with, and accordingly make our bookings ready to launch. After the campaign wraps, we get all the analytics from the media with how many people clicked on the ads, how many people came to our website after seeing an ad, how many people we have reached in general, and so on. And then we report these numbers back to IFF's members.

This year, unfortunately, we don't have a budget to promote the campaign through external media (whether print or online), but we'll still be posting and boosting the campaign via our own social media. It's not the optimum way to reach the widest audience possible, but IFF has 55 member associations, and each of those has its own members, so it's amazing how far a campaign can reach when everyone is ready to share.

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How You Can Help ...

Whether you're a member of the trade or just a fur fan with a blog or social media account, you can help spread IFF's message by sharing this campaign.

The simplest way is just to link to IFF's landing page for this campaign, where all the materials are on show and you can understand the story. To share specific materials or to combine them with your own content, they're all available for downloading from a dedicated public Dropbox link. We all have the power to influence the fashion conversation, so please, get sharing!

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To learn more about donating to Truth About Fur, click here.

The American fur trade played an important role in the country's history, and continues to provide employment for thousands of citizens today. In celebration of America's Independence Day this July 4, let’s meet just a few representatives of the modern fur trade!

Read on to hear from furbearer biologist Bryant White, who considers trapping a vital tool in the managing of wildlife. Next up is Bob Zimbal, whose mink farm in Wisconsin has been operating for sixty years. Then we're off to the Big Apple to talk with fur designer Maria Reich, who calls small businesses like hers "the heart of New York." And rounding out our series of July 4 interviews is another New Yorker, garment manufacturer Nick Pologeorgis, whose family history has been the American dream!

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Bryant White – “Trapping Is Essential to Wildlife Management”

Bryant White is the Furbearer Research Program Manager with the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (AFWA), currently based at the Arizona Game and Fish Department headquarters in Phoenix. Much of his work involves research related to Best Management Practices for the conservation of furbearing animals.

How is trapping regulated to ensure that it is done humanely and sustainably?

“Everything is based on research,” says Bryant. “Trapping seasons are opened only when the young of the year are autonomous and have set out to establish territories of their own. When necessary, harvest quotas protect vulnerable species. Types of trapping devices and how they may be used are also regulated, to ensure animal welfare as well as the safety of pets and the public."

And what does he think the public needs to know about trapping?

“I think we have to help the non-trapping public to understand that trapping would be important even if no one wanted fur,” he says.

“Regulated trapping is now an essential element of responsible wildlife management in the USA. Many people don’t know that modern traps are used to capture animals, unharmed, to apply radio collars for research -- or to reintroduce species (wolves and river otters) into regions where they were previously eradicated."

We need to do a better job informing people of the important contributions that trappers make to our conservation efforts!

“Trapping is also essential to protect some thirty endangered species of plants and animals. Whooping cranes, for example, would almost certainly be completely extinct in the USA within two years if we didn’t aggressively trap predators like coyotes and foxes in their nesting areas. Endangered sea turtles are also protected by trapping raccoons and foxes that seek to dig up their eggs. Wolves must be managed to protect livestock, while beavers can cause millions of dollars of damage to forest habitat, water supplies, agricultural land, roads and other property by flooding. Skunks and raccoons in cities carry lethal diseases (rabies) and dangerous parasites, such as roundworm, which can migrate out of the intestines and can affect many organs and tissues, including the brain. They can be lethal."

Bryant believes that harvesting meat and fur from the wild is just as ethical as buying leather shoes, a steak dinner, or a can of chicken soup.

“What is important is that we hunt and trap in a responsible and sustainable fashion. Some people question the ethics of trapping animals for fur, but the fur trade actually helps us to protect furbearing species by giving them economic value. It’s all very good to say we care about wildlife, but when the tough decisions get made, economic value does matter. When someone comes to cut down the forest to build a new shopping mall, we can say, whoa, this forest does help the economy, it provides local income and resources from hunters and fishers and trappers – let’s leave it alone."

SEE ALSO: The ethics of fur. Truth About Fur.

“Not least important, it’s hunters, fishers and trappers who pay for the state agencies that monitor, manage and protect wildlife populations and their habitat. They pay with their hunting, fishing and trapping licenses. Without these revenues there would be no funding for the wildlife agencies that manage most of the wildlife in this country!

“From our perspective, as biologists and wildlife agencies, trappers are managing wildlife and doing essential conservation work. We need these people and we should respect what they do. We have done opinion research and 80% of Americans say that it's OK to trap to protect habitat, it’s OK to trap to protect endangered species, it’s OK to manage wildlife to control disease or protect property. We need to do a better job informing people of the important contributions that trappers make to our conservation efforts!”

SEE ALSO: Reasons we trap. Truth About Fur.

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Bob Zimbal – Third-Generation Mink Farmer

Raising mink is a lifestyle as much as a job, says Bob Zimbal, at his family farm in Wisconsin.

“When we come out in the morning, we look forward to feeding the animals and taking care of their needs,” he says.

“Sixty years ago my grandfather and my father started Zimbal Mink. Mink had not been domesticated for so very long, so there was a learning process how to care for the animals and feed them. As I child, I always helped on the farm, and my father taught me to pay attention to the animals and look at their health and each individual mink’s needs.

“The great thing about raising mink is that we can feed them proteins not used for human consumption, the parts of food animals that people don’t eat. So we’re recycling what would otherwise be wasted. All our mink feed is processed on-site, in our own feed kitchen, so it’s as fresh as possible.

“We work with nutritionists, because throughout the year, the minks' needs are always changing. When a mink is reproducing, its requirements are different than when it’s growing or furring. So our food is sent weekly to a laboratory to have it analyzed to make sure that we’re meeting the needs of the mink."

SEE ALSO: A year on a mink farm. Truth About Fur.

“We have a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility. We can open the roofs and sides and the air will flow through the building, to keep it cooler in the summer. But also we can close it up in bad weather in the winter to protect the animals from the environment.

“This facility is designed to make the mink comfortable, but also make it efficient for the people that are caring for the animals. So the way the bedding is put into the pens, the way they are kept clean – things like that are designed with what’s comfortable for the animal, but also what is efficient for the employees."

There’s a lot more involved in producing beautiful mink than most people understand!

SEE ALSO: Facts about fur farming. Truth About Fur.

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Maria Reich – “The Fur Boss”!

Maria Reich -- aka “The Fur Boss” -- is the dynamic CEO of ER Fur Trading, Oscar de la Renta Furs, and Reich Furs in New York City.

“This is the heart of the fur fashion business in the US,” says Maria. “There are more than 1,500 people working in fur and affiliated businesses in New York City.”

“Our company was started by my late husband’s grandfather, Charlie Reich, who arrived here from Poland in 1938. He fought in World War II, and then returned to start Reich Furs. His great-granddaughter, Samantha Ortiz, is now president of the company.

“I am a single working mom, and small businesses like ours are the heart of New York. We are a design-driven company and we directly employ 20 people, but we also work with – and provide work for – many other New York Garment District companies: designers, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers.

Every scrap is used for something and never goes to waste. We are constantly finding new ways to use and re-use fur!

“We are a fully integrated company. We do everything here, from developing new designs, to producing apparel and accessories, which we offer directly to consumers.

“When it comes to fur fashion, there are plenty of misconceptions. It is more than just a luxury product, it is also a highly regulated and sustainable industry.

“Many of our clients come in with their great grandmother's fur coat, wanting it restyled and modernized. There are not many materials you can do this with. We also up-cycle a lot of our furs. Every scrap is used for something and never goes to waste. We are constantly finding new ways to use and re-use fur!"

Whether she’s designing a new collection or sharing her life with over 40,000 Instagram followers, Maria is constantly striving to inspire.

SEE ALSO: New York fur ban: Furriers fight to save sustainable industry. Truth About Fur.

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Nick Pologeorgis – Living the Dream

Nick Pologeorgis is a leader of the New York trade and one of North America’s foremost high-fashion fur manufacturers. He also serves on the boards of the Fur Information Council of America and the International Fur Federation.

Nick’s father, Stanley, started Pologeorgis Furs in 1960, after arriving in New York from Crete. He apprenticed in a fur workshop without pay and became a master fur craftsman. He was one of the first furriers to forge relationships with top international designers, collaborating with Pierre Balmain from 1970.

Nick joined the business when he finished his degree in finance at Boston University, in 1984. His sister, Joan Pologeorgis, who graduated from New York City's Fashion Institute of Technology, serves as vice-president in charge of production and is co-owner. It has been a family-owned and operated business for over 60 years.

“We love fur; we love making beautiful clothing with one of nature’s most luxurious materials,” says Nick.

The Pologeorgis story is the American dream. My dad built our company from nothing, through hard work and dedication.

Pologeorgis has made furs for a long list of celebrities, including Elizabeth Taylor, Aretha Franklin, and Rihanna. “We made a beautiful white mink for Serena Williams,” he recalls.

“The business never stops changing. Fur is now used for accessories and for home furnishings, making it much more accessible to more people. Fur is even used to make felt for hats, and for rugs.

“Lifestyle is very important now too. There will always be the beautiful, classic garments, but you also want to have fun, not-so-precious pieces. The biggest trend is the mixing of fur with ready-to-wear fabric. How it all goes together is important.

“The Pologeorgis story is the American dream. My dad built our company from nothing, through hard work and dedication. Hard working, industrious immigrants continue to form the backbone of the fur market today. The fur trade supports thousands of families in New York and across America.”

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To learn more about donating to Truth About Fur, click here.

HAPPY CANADA DAY 2020! On the first day of July each year, we celebrate the uniting of three British colonies – the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick – into one federation, the Dominion of Canada, on July 1, 1867. It’s also a fine time to reflect on the unique role played by the fur trade in shaping our country.

Historians recall the role played by Europeans searching for fur in opening up our vast lands. But we should also remember that fur trading had been practiced here for hundreds, if not thousands of years before Europeans arrived.

When French navigator and explorer Jacques Cartier first visited the island of Montreal in 1535, he found Montagnais hunters from what is now northern Quebec already trading fur for food produced by Iroquoian farmers in the St-Lawrence valley.

Fur trading between First Nations and Europeans began when French fishermen came to exploit the vast stocks of codfish off Newfoundland and in the Gulf of St-Lawrence. When Cartier landed on the coast of northern New Brunswick, in 1534, he met Indigenous people who clearly had experience with Europeans, holding up fur pelts on sticks and eager to trade.

SEE ALSO: The country that fur built: Canada’s fur trade history. Truth About Fur.

In the five centuries that followed, Canada’s fur trade came to reflect the country’s cultural mosaic at its best: First Nations, French, English, Scots, Jews, Greeks and many others have worked together to build this remarkable heritage industry with its dynamic tradition of competition and cooperation.

But the fur trade is not just our history – it’s very much a part of modern Canada. More than 50,000 Canadians participate today in the many aspects of our industry, so let's take this occasion to meet a few of today's Fur Trappers, Farmers, First Nations, Manufacturers, Designers, and Retail Furriers.

CANADA'S RETAIL FURRIERS

Dan Kahnert – The Industry’s Link with Consumers

(Click here for an expanded version of this interview.)

Like so many in the industry, Dan Kahnert’s relationship with fur is a family affair.

“My great-grandfather learned the fur trade in Germany and came to Canada in the late 1800s. His son, my grandfather, moved to Toronto where he would travel around taking orders, and then cut and sew coats in his home. It was my father, Allan, who opened our first showroom on Avenue Road in 1957, where Kahnert’s is still located.

“I would help out at the store on weekends, and decided by the end of high school that I wanted to join the family business. That’s what I did in 1984, after completing my degree in economics and business at the University of Western Ontario. I arrived home with all my college furniture and everything on April 30 and began working full-time in the store the next day; it was storage season and there was no time for a break!

“We worked hard, six days a week, but I enjoyed the challenges of running a business, being our own bosses, analysing problems and implementing a plan. My older brothers, Bernie and John, were already working at the store with my father, and John and I still run the business together today. It really helped that dad was very open to letting us try new ideas, like when I brought in computers in the 1990s.”

What does Dan like best about being a retail furrier?

“In addition to working with my brother and running our own business, what I enjoy most is the opportunity to meet lots of new people. While not every customer is easy, as everyone working in retail knows, generally we meet lots of very nice people. When we say, ‘It’s been a pleasure doing business with you,’ it’s not just a cliché, it really is how we feel.”

We are on the front line with consumers, and we are proud to do our part to promote fur on behalf of all the people who make up this uniquely Canadian heritage industry!

And how has the business changed over the years?

“There’s no way around it, aggressive animal rights campaigning has hurt us. Most people still love fur, but the activists have made them feel nervous about wearing it. Some of these intimidation campaigns are really a form of violence against women, which is very sad,” says Dan.

“Unfortunately, we have difficulty getting across our messages about the real environmental advantages of wearing fur. Fur is a sustainably produced, long-lasting, recyclable and biodegradable natural material. Animal activists have created very damaging confusion about the real environmental issues. It makes no sense telling people to use petroleum-based synthetics instead of long-lasting natural and biodegradable materials. The saddest thing is that most consumers we speak with do appreciate the warmth, comfort and beauty of natural fur, but they feel intimidated.

“We have adapted, of course: we will sell our customer a shearling coat – because, ironically, shearling is not seen as fur. Or a fur-lined coat. We have also added cashmere and other cloth coats, with or without fur trim. Not because there’s anything wrong with fur, but because fur has been tangled up in a very complex societal discussion about using animals, which includes everything from medical research to circuses to eating meat. Fur, unfortunately, has become a scapegoat, because we are really a very small-scale industry; we don’t have the financial or professional clout that large corporations can muster to tell their story when they are attacked.”

And the future?

“I don’t think fur will ever really go out of style, because it is so in tune with growing environmental concerns. We have to keep working on telling that story, but ultimately it is up to the consumer to make an educated decision on the benefits of buying fur products ” says Dan.

“But, bottom line, as a retailer your success depends on satisfying your customer. We are located in a wonderful residential neighbourhood and therefore do not rely on tourist sales that might occur in downtown Toronto. We rely on community word of mouth with support from our online business. We have one of the city’s best collections of high-quality coats, and we work hard to take good care of every customer. We are on the front line with consumers, and we are proud to do our part to promote fur on behalf of all the people who make up this uniquely Canadian heritage industry!”

SEE ALSO: Fur retail: The art and science of making sales. Truth About Fur.

CANADA'S FUR DESIGNERS

Farley Chatto – Stylist to the Stars

If you’ve never heard of Farley Chatto, then you’re probably not in tune with fashion, and couture in particular. But if you love couture and Canadian design, Farley is probably a household name. Not only is he an internationally recognized designer, he is also a stylist for celebrities. He consults with Hollywood A-list hit TV shows and movies, including Suits, Christmas Chronicles, American Gods and more. As a Toronto resident, he is proud of his Canadian roots.

Farley’s love for fur began in his childhood. In winter, his father would pick him up from school wearing a muskrat-lined Royal Canadian Mounted Police hat. He remembers touching it and loving how soft it was, and thus began his love affair with fur. As he grew up in the 1980s, the fur was a staple as a must-have luxury item on TV shows.

“In the 1980s, Dynasty was a top-rated show depicting the lives of the rich and powerful, where fur and excessive fashion were a big part of the show’s popularity,” he recalls. “Then, one day, I  asked my mother if I could have a sheared beaver bomber jacket for winter. Sadly I didn’t get the coat, yet I was hooked on the tactility of fur!”

People forget that this country exists because of fur. Fur is the fabric that bundled our nation together.

Farley continues to be proud that fur is as Canadian as apple pie is to Americans. Because fur is a staple in the fashion industry, he was anxious to incorporate it into his designs when he entered the field.

“Being a Canadian designer can be challenging,” he says. “I’ve been on the scene for 32 years, and the beginning wasn’t easy.  I applied and was accepted to three fashion schools here and in the US, yet I decided to remain true to my roots and stay here. People forget that this country exists because of fur. Fur is the fabric that bundled our nation together.”

When asked on advice for young designers with interest in fur, Farley’s motto is: “If you have an opportunity, take it! Sign up for courses, join workshops, learn with First Nations people, put yourself out there.”

Wherever Farley travels, whether to teach or research, he touts the sustainability of fur fashion to others. As he says, it’s #furtastic.

Shawna Ujaralaaq Dias – Traditional Fur-Trimmed Parkas with a Modern Twist

As a child, Shawna lived for several years in a tiny settlement in Wager Bay, above the Arctic Circle on the extreme northwest coast of Hudson’s Bay.

“My grandfather had run the Hudson’s Bay post that was built there in 1925; there were only 15 people when my parents were living there, all family,” she says. “They would take the dog team to visit with other families nearby.

“It was a great life. My father hunted and trapped – foxes and wolves — and we were always outdoors, active and healthy – not like the kids who sit in front of computer screens these days!

“We kids would help to clean and scrape skins, and I began sewing by the time I was seven. I was using a sewing machine soon after that.”

The family moved about 300 kilometres south to Rankin Inlet, a small town (population 2,800, in 2016), so Shawna could attend school, but returned to their camp in Wager Bay each summer to hunt, fish and reconnect with the land.

“I didn’t even speak English until we moved to Rankin,” says Shawna. “We spoke Inuktitut, and I was lucky to learn all the traditional ways. These are the traditions I celebrate in my sewing.”

Now married with three grown children (18, 21 and 24) and a government job, Shawna never stopped sewing, and about ten years ago started her own business.

There is so much skill and creativity in the communities, and now with the Internet we have access to the world!

“People would see my fur-trimmed parkas and ask if I could make them one. Now I show new parkas on my Facebook page, and they are usually sold within 48 hours. Even though we live in a remote community, the Internet puts us into contact with customers across Canada and even in the US or beyond!”

Shawna now has more than 6,000 Facebook followers, and in 2017 she began selling dressed fur pelts, in addition to parkas.

“A lot of the ladies in small northern communities are sewers, but they often have difficulty finding fur pelts to work with. They really appreciate being able to get dressed furs from me up here.

“I like to promote the work of other ladies too,” said Shawna. “There is so much skill and creativity in the communities, and now with the Internet we have access to the world!”

So: with a government job and a growing sewing business, does Shawna still have time to connect with the land?

“For sure, we still go out to our hunting camp most weekends, and every summer. My husband only came north about 20 years ago, but he learned many hunting and trapping skills from my dad, and he loves the life here. My boys also hunt caribou and seals. We have a good life, and I am happy to be able to share some of the beauty of our Inuit culture with my sewing.”

CANADA'S FUR MANUFACTURERS

Christina Nacos – Re-inventing Fur for the Next Generation

Some people are born into the fur industry, some people choose it. For Christina Nacos, it was both.

Her father, Tom Nacos, is a legend of the Canadian fur industry. After learning the trade in his native village of Siatista, in the mountains of northern Greece, he emigrated to Montreal in the 1950s and proceeded to build one of North America’s most important fur manufacturing and retailing empires.

Christina crossed the ocean in the opposite direction, living in England for several years, where she worked in advertising. She returned to Canada in 1998 to work with Natural Furs, one of her father’s companies, and as one of the younger people leading a major company in the industry – and one of the very few women – she quickly began exploring ways to adapt fur for young people like herself.

“I think that each generation learns from their predecessors, but then has to make the industry their own, adapting fur for their time. That’s how fur has always evolved,” she says.

Under Christina’s leadership, Natural Furs was one of the first companies to participate actively in FurWorks Canada, an innovative project coordinated by the Fur Council of Canada to modernize fur fashion, mixing fur with other materials for a sportier look that reflected more modern, active lifestyles. Natural Furs was also a strong supporter of the Fur Council’s “Beautifully Canadian” collective branding initiative.

Christina is a strong believer in the important role of industry associations, especially in a sector made up of hundreds of small family businesses; she has served as vice-president of the Fur Council for many years.

As society thinks more deeply about the challenge of shifting to a more sustainable economy, fur will make more sense than ever.

Christina’s latest project to bring fur fashion into the 21st century is a major push to promote recycled – or “upcycled” – fur, to make fur more accessible and avoid waste. Branded as FURB Upcycled, the collection is attracting younger women who may never have worn fur before.

“We noticed that many young people were attracted by the nostalgia of remodelling furs they had inherited from their parents or grandparents. It’s a way to reconnect with the past, and it’s totally in synch with current efforts to prevent waste and use sustainable materials. Often we’re using the fur inside the garment, to maximize its warmth and functionality. We’re mixing upcycled fur with other materials, and exploring a more laid back, Scandinavian aesthetic.

“My sister-in-law, Sarah Nacos, has now joined me in the company. She’s 28, and brings the sensibility of an even younger generation of women to our designs,” she says.

“Each generation brings something new to fur. Young women today love the echo of the past in an upcycled piece, and they appreciate the durability of fur, which prevents waste – all important sustainability virtues.

“As society thinks more deeply about the challenge of shifting to a more sustainable economy, fur will make more sense than ever,” she says.

So Christina Nacos is continuing a family tradition in the best possible way: by totally rethinking how fur can be adapted for the next generation.

CANADA'S FIRST NATIONS

Robert Grandjambe – Deeply Connected to the Land

Robert Grandjambe Jr. is a Woodland Cree from Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories, whose roots go back to Fort Chipewyan, Alberta, where generations of his family trapped to survive. For many southerners, and city dwellers in particular, his deep connection to the land may seem like a dream lifestyle, and sometimes even hard to understand, so it helps that he is committed to explaining it to anyone who will listen.

Trapping is a perfect example. “I think people need to better understand the importance of what trappers do, because I don’t think they get it,” he says. “We must educate people to understand that everything the trapper does contributes to a natural and sustainable way of life and the environment, and is crucial for the culture and health of our communities.”

Robert started learning trapping from his father when he was six years old, and now he’s determined to pass on everything he’s learned. Out of trapping season, when he’s not working as a contractor, he does presentations in schools about culture, craft-making, hunting and gathering, and of course trapping. Also receiving a solid grounding in what it means to live on the land is his toddler daughter.

“As a father you want to leave a legacy,” he says. “I want to give her all my knowledge and experience from the trapline, and from there she can choose her own path. So I will continue to bring her into this world, so she can understand and know it well.”

Among the lessons that Robert passes on is the importance of supporting your community at large, and for him this means providing food – as much as he can, be it moose, ducks, bison, bear, geese, or any of the other wild bounty the land provides. He views food as “the thing that brings us all together at the same table and sustains us, no matter who we are or where we come from.”

We always ask ourselves, how can we do it better when it comes to animal treatment?

As for trapping, one important aspect that is close to Robert’s heart – as it is for most trappers – is animal welfare. In part this might be because his great-great-grandfather trapped in the early 1900s alongside Frank Conibear, one of the founders of the humane trapping movement, who in turn learned much about respecting animals by working alongside Indigenous people.

Robert is adamant that concern over animal welfare is not a recent development forced on trappers by the animal rights movement. “We always ask ourselves, how can we do it better when it comes to animal treatment?” he says. “The standards have improved dramatically over the years and we still strive to keep improving. As trappers, we always focus on only taking what we need, and making sure we respect the animals and the environment.”

As for the future of wild fur, Robert has a positive outlook, despite the many challenges facing trappers. He may not have all the answers yet, but he’s confident the pieces are all there to make it happen.

“I truly believe trappers and wild fur will always have a place in this world,” he says. “We needed it once just to survive, but today it is about much more than that: It’s about social and cultural values, family values, our health and well-being, and protecting nature, ecosystems and the environment.”

SEE ALSO: “Trapping is beautiful” says proud Cree Robert Grandjambe. Truth About Fur.

SEE ALSO: Letter from a Cree trapper: Nature is our refuge from Covid-19. Truth About Fur.

D’Arcy Moses – First Nations Heritage Inspires Modern Fur Designs

(Click here for an expanded version of this interview.)

If you are looking for a designer who incarnates the Canadian fur trade’s rich cultural mosaic, D’Arcy Moses is an obvious choice. Adopted at birth and raised by a non-native farming family in Camrose, Alberta, D’Arcy set out to connect with his aboriginal roots after he left home. While his background sometimes left him feeling uncomfortable (“like an apple, red on the outside, white inside”), in Vancouver he met Leonard George, chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, who assured him he could have the best of both worlds. “He told me, ‘You have the First Nations culture and you have the non-aboriginal culture. You can utilize that, because you can mix between cultures at ease.’”

D’Arcy’s chance to apply his unusual heritage to designing clothing came at the Toronto Fashion Incubator, and in 1991 his work was featured at the Toronto Festival of Fashion. Then he was invited to Montreal by the Fur Council of Canada, and began working with one of the country’s most important luxury apparel manufacturers, Natural Furs.

The unique, aboriginally inspired collections D’Arcy developed went to high-end retailers in North America, Europe and Asia, and a retrospective collection of his work was recently added by the Government of the Northwest Territories to its permanent collection of Indigenous arts and crafts.

Progressives who want to ban fur need to look at the whole ecosystem, the broader impact of industries, not just the individual animal.

Then in 1996 his life took another unusual turn. After CBC aired a documentary about him, he received a call from the Pehdzeh Ki First Nation, in Wrigley, NWT. Moses is a common family name there, and they had been looking for him. So D’Arcy left the glamour and hectic pace of international fashion to settle in the home he had never known. His business experience landed him a government job, but sewing and designing were never far from his mind.

Twelve years later he had saved the funds needed for his current project: a workshop in Enterprise, NWT, a community even smaller and more remote than Wrigley. “I needed somewhere I wouldn’t be distracted from my design work,” he says.

And the work has been abundant and diverse. In January, D’Arcy participated in a residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and he will return to Banff to lead a workshop for Indigenous design students from around the world. “We will be using traditional techniques to re-purpose fur, leather and other natural materials,” he says.

“Many people in my community still hunt and trap, and their attachment to the land is very strong. But natural materials like fur are also important at a time when people are increasingly concerned about protecting our natural environment. So-called ‘fast fashion’ is killing the Earth.

“Progressives who want to ban fur need to look at the whole ecosystem, the broader impact of industries, not just the individual animal. When we look at the whole picture, from sourcing to use and maintenance, through to disposal, it is clear that we should be using responsibly and sustainably sourced natural materials – wool, leather, fur. The First Nations understood that we are part of nature and that we have an obligation to use resources with respect. I hope that my designs, marrying traditional and modern themes, can help people remember these important lessons,” says D’Arcy.

SEE ALSO: D’arcy Moses’ big bet. Up Here, October 2015.

CANADA'S FUR FARMERS

Tom McLellan – Mink Farming Maintains Proud Rural Heritage

Tom McLellan, a third-generation mink farmer from Ontario, feels tremendous pride when he speaks of his family’s history and their contribution to the early agricultural economy in Canada. “It is comforting to know that my family has been a part of what helped shape Canada into the nation that it is today,” he says.

“My father and his father before him loved working with animals and, being a part of Canada’s agricultural development just made the work even more satisfying. Now my sons are learning about fur and our connection to the birth of our great nation. It’s a wonderful feeling,” he says.

We are always studying the science behind mink farming to improve the health of our animals and make them comfortable and happy.

The early days of the fur trade focused on trapping, and the beaver pelt was the motor of the economy. By the end of the 19th century, Canadians were pioneering fur farming as the way to produce uniform, high-quality pelts without overexploiting wild populations. Over time, farmed mink became the most popular fur for consumers who appreciated the warmth and luxury.

“Improving the quality of the fur and keeping our animals healthy is what keeps us going on a daily basis,” says Tom. “We are always studying the science behind mink farming to improve the health of our animals and make them comfortable and happy.”

Canadian mink farmers are proud to produce some of the finest furs in the world, and also of their commitment to animal welfare. They follow codes of practice developed by the National Farm Animal Care Council, and their farms are certified by independent auditors. This Canadian heritage industry is proud of its past and, equally important, is well positioned to continue supporting rural communities.

SEE ALSO: Facts about fur farming. Truth About Fur.

Joe Williams – Continuing a Family Tradition

What makes someone get up early each morning and put in long days on the farm?

“We are proud of the care we provide for our animals,” says Joe Williams who, with his two brothers, runs two mink farms in the lower mainland of British Columbia.

“It’s a family tradition, and fur is part of Canada’s heritage,” says Joe. 

“Canadians pioneered the farm raising of furbearing animals, foxes on Prince Edward Island and mink in Ontario, and we are proud to be part of that heritage.

“My father started his first farm in 1990, and I would help him on weekends and after school,” he recalls.

“For sure it’s lots of hard work, but it’s rewarding. I like working for myself and being outdoors and caring for the animals. There’s a satisfaction in following the full cycle with the animals, from breeding season, to whelping and ensuring the pups are healthy, right through to the final product.

“I am also lucky to be working with my brothers,” says Joe.

What would he like people to know about mink farming?

“I would like people to understand how hard we work to keep our mink healthy and content. Every day we are adjusting their care and nutrition, depending on the time of year and their growth cycle. The proportion of proteins and fats and other elements are adjusted depending on whether the mink are being prepared for mating or whelping or growth. We are learning all the time.

“And then we are maintaining pens and barns and equipment; mixing feed; planning genetics for the next mating season, working to improve our herd.

“There’s a lot more that goes into this than most people understand. And, honestly, if you don’t care about the health and welfare of the mink, you really can’t do a good job; it will show in the quality of the fur you produce.”

Fur makes more sense than ever in our eco-conscious times!

And what would Joe say to a consumer considering the purchase of fur apparel or accessories?

“I would like consumers to know that fur is produced responsibly and sustainably. Mink are carnivores; they are fed left-overs from our food production system, the parts of chickens, pigs, fish and other animals we don’t eat and would otherwise end up in landfills.

“We basically recycle those ‘wastes’ by feeding mink to produce a warm, beautiful and long-lasting natural clothing material,” says Joe.

“At a time when we are all looking for ways to ensure that our lifestyle choices are helping to protect nature for future generations, I would like consumers to know they can wear fur with pride. Fur is an important part of our Canadian and North American heritage. And fur makes more sense than ever in our eco-conscious times!”

SEE ALSO: A year on a mink farm. Truth About Fur.

CANADA'S FUR TRAPPERS

Katie Ball – Trapper, Designer and Advocate

When Katie Ball is not out on the land in Thunder Bay, Ontario, she's either designing and making fur garments at her own Silver Cedar Studio, or she's advocating for the fur trade on behalf of the Northwestern Fur Trappers Association, the Ontario Fur Managers Federation, the Northwestern Ontario Sportsmen’s Alliance, and Fur Harvesters Auction. Only a person with fur coursing through her veins could build such a résumé!

"The love of Canada and our national heritage is nowhere better reflected than in the fur trade," says Katie. "For me to be a part of this incredible industry is beyond humbling. Spending time out in the wilderness and being at one with Mother Nature and learning from my father is where my pride begins.

"I know that we are using the most humane methods possible, and respecting the delicate balance of nature to ensure viable populations for years to come. So I take pride in carrying on my family traditions, while playing the role as a steward of the land. There is no better way to spend one's time than with family, doing what you love."

Katie then takes this a step further, turning raw pelts into stunning fur garments.

"For me to be able to take this passion and turn it into a creative, fashionable yet functional wild fur product to be enjoyed for generations to come, is also a gift I hold dear," she says. "Nature and the fur trade itself have been major influences in my daily life that allow me to translate them into usable pieces of art and heritage. Being able to express myself through my creations has allowed me to grow as an individual."

Standing side by side with some of the most respected people in our industry that I call family and friends, is what lets me know I am where I belong.

"However, true pride shines brightest within the fur community if you ask me. The camaraderie between trappers and their families is unrivalled. The way we share our knowledge with one another, as well as the willingness to help educate newcomers, strengthens our friendships and grows our community as a whole. Trappers and their families are a closely knit community no matter where you go. There are always friendly smiles and stories to be heard."

Completing the picture, as it were, of a lady who lives and breathes fur, is Katie's involvement in advocacy.

"Finally, knowing that I have the backing from my local trappers council, as well as the Ontario trappers, is where my creativity, passion and strength come together. Helping fight for the rights of trappers, all the while educating the public about why the fur trade is so important to Canadians. Standing side by side with some of the most respected people in our industry that I call family and friends, is what lets me know I am where I belong.

"So be it on the trapline, in the studio, or at a board meeting, I know that what I do and love makes a difference. By being a part of this vast community and historical trade, with so much more to be shared and done in the near future, I cannot wait to see where we as a whole will take it.

"This is how we grow as a community, and these are just a few of the many reasons why I am proud to be a trapper."

SEE ALSO: "Fur is in my blood" says Katie Ball, trapper, designer, advocate. Truth About Fur.

Robin Horwath – Trappers Are "Great Stewards of the Land"

Hailing from Blind River, Ontario, Robin Horwath started helping his father on the trapline at the age of 12. In so doing, he became the next torchbearer of a family tradition that dates back to both his grandfathers.

"As we go through life, it is not always clear at the time what or who influenced us along the way," he says. "When my Grandpa Temple died at the age of 99, I saw a photo of him in an album for the first time. It was taken in 1928, and shows skunks and muskrats hanging on a shed, all skinned, boarded and ready to sell. Today, that photo is on my desk at work.

"When I was still nine or ten, I remember both him and my Grandpa Horwath telling me that they both had trapped skunks and muskrats. At the start of the Great Depression, they were paid $3 a muskrat and $5 a skunk. When I saw the picture of Grandpa Temple, it brought back all the stories they had told me as a child.

"My father was a great influence also, as he taught me to hunt, trap and fish as I grew up, and learn our family's traditions and values.

"So I am proud to have carried on my family's way of life. I have followed in the footsteps of my grandfathers and father, joined by my brother and my son. And hopefully my two young grandsons will want to do the same in the future."

Aside from the personal pride Robin has in continuing his family's heritage, he's also committed to serving others in the trade. Today he is both general manager for the Ontario Fur Managers Federation and a board member of the Fur Institute of Canada. So what path did he follow to reach this point?

"After studying in Iron Bridge under trapping instructor Walter Tonelli, I got my first trapping license in 1981 to help my father on his registered trapline, and I've held one ever since. In 1995 I became a director for the Blind River Trappers Council, and in 1996 I studied to be a trapping instructor in Thunder Bay as part of a program run by the Ontario Fur Managers Federation and the Ministry of Natural Resources. And by 2010, I was the OFMF's general manager!"

If you are a trapper, don’t be afraid to introduce someone new to what and why we trap. And if you are not a trapper, take the opportunity to ask if you can tag along.

So what motivates him to give so much of his time in the service of others?

"I am very proud to be a part of Canada’s fur trade," he explains, "and I have had great opportunities in my life to be able to help promote, educate and train people in its traditions and heritage. It is amazing when you think that the Hudson's Bay Company received its royal charter in 1670 - so 2020 is the HBC’s 350th anniversary, making it one of the longest-running corporations in the world. Trapping is what drove the exploration and development of this great land we call Canada.

"I never thought when I started trapping that I would end up representing trappers provincially and nationally on behalf of the OFMF and the Fur Institute. It's a great privilege."

So what advice does he have for others looking to get involved in promoting the fur trade?

"I dream of the day when trappers once again are recognized and valued by the general public as great stewards of the land. Trapping is a vital tool for managing furbearers to achieve healthy sustainable populations, to protect infrastructure, and control the spread of disease, which is important not just for the animals but also for humans.

"So if you are a trapper, don’t be afraid to introduce someone new to what and why we trap. And if you are not a trapper, take the opportunity to ask if you can tag along to see what it is all about for yourself, so you can make your own informed opinion on why trapping needs to continue."

SEE ALSO: In their own words: Fur trappers on Ontario's oldest profession. TVO.org.

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City’s Fur Ban an “Unconstitutional Attack on Consumer Rights”

The International Fur Federation (IFF) has launched litigation to prevent San Francisco from implementing a city ordinance banning the sale of fur. The ordinance, passed in 2018, gave existing department stores until Jan. 1, 2020, to sell off their remaining fur stock and prohibits the sale of newly manufactured fur coats, hats, gloves, fur-trimmed parkas, and other products.

The lawsuit, filed on January 13, argues San Francisco has “no legitimate local interest to ban fur sales” and that the ordinance is an “unconstitutional restriction on interstate and foreign commerce”.

“In an attempt to legislate morality, Supervisor Katy Tang, sponsor of the ban, stated that businesses ‘need to get with the times.’ Yet the current times do not allow for ignoring the Constitution’s prohibition on restraining interstate commerce,” said Mike Brown, the IFF’s CEO for North America.

“Proponents of San Francisco’s fur ban, including the radical animal rights group PETA, also want the sale of leather, wool, and other animal products to be banned,” said Brown.

Contrary to San Francisco city council claims, fur products remain popular with consumers in that city and nationwide. Fur sales in San Francisco alone are estimated to be $40 million annually. Globally, the fur industry is a $23 billion business. A 2019 Gallup poll also confirmed that a majority of Americans believe that it is morally acceptable to wear fur.

While fur producers worldwide are complying with the humane standards under the IFF’s new FurMark program, San Francisco’s fur ban is so extreme that it blocks even humanely certified products. FurMark is a certification program to provide consumers with assurance about animal welfare and sustainability standards in place for the production of fur products in North America and Europe.

The San Francisco fur ban is completely arbitrary and creates a troubling precedent for other responsibly produced animal products. “If this law is allowed to stand, there’s nothing stopping San Francisco from banning wool, leather, meat, or other products that a small group of activists don’t approve of,” said Mark Oaten, CEO of the IFF.

“Californians should have no fewer rights than residents of other states. They should be free to buy legally produced goods unless there is a public safety or health issue - which does not exist here,” said Oaten.

Counter-Productive in Fight Against Pollution

Along with harming local businesses, San Francisco’s fur ban will have unintended consequences that damage California’s efforts to fight pollution, because the “fake fur” alternatives to natural fur are made with petroleum. Research is showing that these synthetics shed microfibers into the waterways when they are cleaned. Plastic microfibers are now even being found in marine life. A single garment can shed 100,000 microfibers in the wash.

“Plastic microfibers are a leading cause of ocean pollution, in San Francisco Bay and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The National Science Foundation recently announced that microplastics may be 1 million times more prevalent than previously estimated,” said Oaten.

SEE ALSO: Global Campaign Highlights Benefits of Real Fur Over Plastic Fake Fur. Truth About Fur.

California Faces Flurry of Legal Challenges

The IFF lawsuit is the latest in a string of legal challenges to California’s attempt to legislate “morality”. The state of Louisiana and a coalition of members of the alligator/crocodile supply chain have sued California over its ban on alligator and crocodile products, which was slated to take effect Jan. 1. As a result, a temporary stay was imposed on the implementation of this ban.

Recently, California was also sued by the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Pork Producers Council over the state’s sweeping ban on the sale of conventionally produced pork products, legislation slated to take effect in 2022. Litigation against California’s foie gras ban is also ongoing in federal court.

SEE ALSO: Why a Ban on Fur and Foie Gras Should Matter to Ranchers.

The fur industry’s legal challenge zeroes in on the constitutionality of state and municipal fur bans in California under the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution. Additionally, legal experts believe US states cannot arbitrarily ban products from foreign countries from being sold under free-trade treaties such as the North American Free Trade Agreement. The IFF lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. Los Angeles and the California state legislature also passed fur bans in 2019, but they do not take effect for several years.

“California’s fur bans are an arbitrary assault on consumer choice and retail businesses," said Brown. "These laws ban a responsibly and legally produced natural product from the marketplace simply because certain special interests don’t like the product. This is a startling precedent, to impose the morality of specific groups onto all citizens. There is no legitimate issue of public health and safety behind fur bans - simply a belief by some lawmakers that they don’t like fur, and therefore no one should be allowed to buy it."

SEE ALSO: 6 Reasons Why Banning Fur Sales Is a Very Bad Idea. Truth About Fur.

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As proposals to ban fur retail in California and New York grind their way through their respective political processes, two giants of the animal protest industry are just behind the scenes, pulling the strings. But how credible are these groups, and what credentials do they really have to be dictating public policy?

SEE ALSO: 6 reasons why banning fur sales is a very bad idea.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) want to end all use of animals by society. In their pursuit of this agenda, fur is just the thin end of the wedge. The thick end includes the giant food industry, as well as leather, entertainment (zoos and circuses), transportation, pets, medical research -- the list of ways that animals enrich and improve our lives goes on and on. In a chart showing all these uses of animals, the fur trade would barely register -- probably less than one-quarter of one percent of the animals used in North America.

So why does fur feature so prominently in recent animal-rights campaigning? First and foremost, fur is seen as a soft target. Totally ignoring its virtues -- like keeping people warm and providing sustainable livelihoods -- HSUS and PETA present fur as a cruel and frivolous luxury worn only by rich people with more money than taste. Selling this message to politicians is made easier by the fact that most people don't own much or any fur, so they can take it or leave it. Convincing folks to give up their hamburgers and leather shoes is a much tougher sell.

Make no mistake though: if HSUS and PETA ever succeed in toppling the fur trade, they have plenty of other targets lined up to take its place.

Meanwhile, these groups rake in tens of millions of dollars each year from well-meaning donors, exploiting freedom of speech to the legal limits as they smear the fur trade and other animal industries as cruel and unnecessary.

With skillful manipulation of traditional media, complemented by social media and direct-mail campaigns, HSUS and PETA have perfected the art of fundraising; their war chests are overflowing with cash. But how is this money really being spent? Let's turn the projector around for a change, and see how credible these groups really are.

HSUS Does Not Run Animal Shelters

HSUS coyly calls itself an "animal protection" organisation, and its propaganda strongly suggests its mission is animal welfare, a moral principle which any decent person supports. Closer examination, however, reveals that its real agenda is "animal rights" -- in other words, no use of animals. As long ago as 1980, an HSUS convention explicitly resolved "to pursue on all fronts ... the clear articulation and establishment of the rights of all animals ... within the full range of American life and culture."

SEE ALSO: Animal welfare vs animal rights: An important distinction.

So when it comes to animal agriculture, for example, HSUS officially campaigns for higher welfare standards, but statements by several of its officers over the years indicate a desire to shut down animal agriculture completely - something most Americans don't support at all.

Equally misleading: many HSUS pop-up ads and other fundraising materials show cute puppies and kittens, creating the impression that it runs animal shelters. This has broad public appeal. But in fact, HSUS doesn’t run a single shelter and only gives a tiny fraction of its income to groups that do provide this important service.

While HSUS may not devote much time to running animal shelters, it's a master at fundraising, leaving no stone unturned in its efforts to part potential donors from their money. You don't even need to be alive! Just name HSUS "as a beneficiary in your will, trust, insurance policy, donor advised fund, or foundation." A subsidiary called the Humane Legacy Society promises an "experienced team is here to help" you kiss your money goodbye.

All of this obviously works: according to its 2017 Form 990, which American tax-exempt nonprofits file each year with the Internal Revenue Service, in just that one year HSUS generated revenue of $142 million from well-meaning donors, legacies, and investments.

And what does HSUS do with all this money? According to CharityWatch, 48% of HSUS's budget goes on overhead, including fundraising expenses, salaries and pension plans, which is why it gave HSUS a "D" rating in 2018.

Indeed, HSUS has a reputation for being very generous to its own officers. The same Form 990 shows that Wayne Pacelle, who was CEO from 2004 to 2018 when he resigned following accusations of sexual harassment, received $387,200 that year, while five other executives received over $200,000 each. And that's not counting their expense accounts.

SEE ALSO: 10 things you should know about HSUS. Humanewatch.org

PETA Wants "Total Animal Liberation"

PETA is cut from the same cloth as HSUS, with a few twists.

First, PETA is more honest about its primary agenda (if not much else), stating in its 2017 Form 990 that its mission is the "protection of animal rights". It wants "total animal liberation", meaning an end to everything from honey and silk, to zoos and seeing-eye dogs, and, of course, all meat, dairy, leather, wool, and medical research using animals. So, at least with PETA you know who you're dealing with.

Second, PETA is not quite as obsessed as HSUS with amassing funds, or perhaps it's simply not as good at it. PETA's declared revenue in 2017 was $53 million - still a huge chunk of change, but only one-third that of HSUS. And, officially at least, president Ingrid Newkirk paid herself a modest $46,600, although a few officers received more than double that.

But like HSUS, there are some disturbing skeletons in PETA's closet. According to PetaKillsAnimals.com, PETA gave grants to arsonist Rodney Coronado and the eco-terrorist group Earth Liberation Front. PETA also gave money to a spokesman of the Animal Liberation Front, and footed a $27,000 legal bill for animal activist Roger Troen. It's also produced shocking propaganda targeting children, mocking religion (it claims Jesus was vegetarian), and comparing farm animals to Holocaust victims. The biggest surprise for many supporters, however, has been the revelation that PETA euthanises homeless pets - in droves! According to the Center for Consumer Freedom, PETA has killed 33,000 animals entrusted to its care since 1998. In 2018 alone, of 2,470 dogs and cats it received, 72% were reportedly put to sleep!

SEE ALSO: 8 things you didn't know about PETA. PetaKillaAnimals.com

Peddling Half Truths and Lies

"We are complete press sluts," PETA boss Ingrid Newkirk told The New Yorker in 2003. And that means peddling everything from half truths to "fake news", including one particularly shocking fabrication. No group bears more responsibility for spreading the lie that the fur trade "skins animals alive" than PETA. In the current campaign to ban the sale of fur products in several American cities, that lie has been regurgitated by influential people like New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and celebrity Anjelica Huston.

SEE ALSO: 5 reasons why it's ridiculous to claim animals are skinned alive.

HSUS's wall of shame includes an expensive but ultimately unsuccessful bid to have Asiatic raccoon fur labeled as "raccoon dog" by the Federal Trade Commission. This animal is the only species in the genus Nyctereutes, and is more closely related to foxes than domestic dogs. HSUS claimed the Asiatic raccoon label was "fraudulent" and "bogus", but anyone can see through its game. It wants consumers to think they are being offered dog fur, which is both illegal in the US and morally unacceptable to most Americans.

Another tactic used by both HSUS and PETA is to claim that the fur trade tricks consumers into buying its products. In large retail operations, errors inevitably occur from time to time in labeling, catalogues and advertising materials; we have all seen corrections published to clarify such errors. The protest industry has sought out and exploited cases where real fur was occasionally mislabeled as "faux" by department stores. For example, when an HSUS "investigation" found that Kohl's department store had mistakenly labeled rabbit and Asiatic raccoon fur as faux, CEO Kitty Block called it evidence of a "fraudulent fur industry".

Of course, fake furs are usually marketed as a lower-cost alternative to the real McCoy, so no business person would intentionally label real fur as fake. But why let common sense get in the way of a good propaganda story?

Browbeating Brands

Recently, HSUS and PETA have generated headlines by pressuring several leading designer brands into dropping fur, while implying it just required a little gentle persuasion for these companies to see the light.

Sure, it's conceivable that a few brand executives may have fallen hook, line and sinker for the activist spiel - Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri comes to mind - but it's clear that most, like Giorgio Armani, Hugo Boss, and most recently Prada, were subjected to varying degrees of sustained pressure, including aggressive letter-writing campaigns and rowdy protests at their stores and fashion shows.

It is not hard to imagine why some CEOs are tempted to step away from fur, at least temporarily, when 90% of their security costs stem from products representing only a small fraction of their sales. Can you spell "protection racket"?

There may be an even more cynical explanation for why some designers caved to activist demands: the rowdy protest campaigns provided a politically correct cover story for companies switching to lower-cost (and more profitable?) fake fur. Now brands can cheapen their production inputs while claiming it's an "ethical" commitment.

SEE ALSO: Why is Giorgio Armani really quitting fur?

Whatever their real motivation, designer brands dropping fur has far-reaching implications. While most consumers, media, and politicians are aware that animal rights groups play fast and loose with the truth, they now have the likes of Gucci's Bizzarri claiming that fake fur (usually made from petroleum) is a more sustainable choice than natural fur. Rightly or wrongly -- very wrongly, in this case -- executives of famous brands have media appeal and thus credibility when they claim to be saving the planet, much like Hollywood movie stars.

For decades, fur has served as a go-to scapegoat to fuel fundraising drives by HSUS, PETA and dozens of other animal rights groups. That money funds more campaigning and more fundraising, and on it goes – a disturbingly effective business model.

Now, with several top designer brands helping to generate headlines, activists can argue that fur is no longer "socially acceptable". This has been the cue for politicians sympathetic to the activist cause -- or simply enticed by the votes and cash that animal rights groups bring to the table. The political battle is especially fierce at the municipal level, where a small group of council members makes decisions, and there are fewer checks and balances than in state or federal governments. And while mainstream media had mostly ignored anti-fur demos in recent years, the political campaigns are "news".

What we are now seeing, in other words, is a scratch-my-back-and-I'll-scratch-yours convergence of interests among the protest industry, some designer brands, celebrities, media (including the new social media), and sympathetic or opportunistic politicians. At the heart of this self-serving dance - like a spider at the centre of its web - are HSUS and PETA.

Which brings us back to the central question: how credible are these groups really, and should they be dictating public policy priorities? It's time for politicians to take a closer look at who is pulling their strings.

To learn more about donating to Truth About Fur, click here.

In this age of mass-produced, imported goods, textile artist and jewellery designer Vanessa Ægirsdóttir belongs to a growing band of people who want more of the benefits of commerce going to producers of raw materials, and specifically in her case to Canada's First Nations trappers. While her family name reflects her Icelandic heritage, this artisan is Canadian born and bred, and currently lives in Whitehorse, Yukon. Together with her partner, Tlingit trapper George Bahm, her mission is to generate more economic returns for trappers of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council, in whose traditional territory they reside.

TruthAboutFur: Last year you opened a boutique in Whitehorse selling mainly fur jewellery. The Yukon is known for hats and mittens made by First Nations artisans. Why not do the same? Are you trying to create a new market?

Vanessa Ægirsdóttir: Our products include scarves, hair scrunchies, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and rings. We will be growing the line to include housewares and garments in the future. When developing the line, I wasn’t so much trying to create a new market as much as I was looking to enhance an existing one. Yes, the Yukon is known for mukluks, moccasins, mittens and trapper hats, but there was room for me to add a jewellery line and other accessories.

I feel strongly that it is not my place to elbow my way into the traditional fur products market, and there are many extremely skilled makers who are far more qualified than I am to be making these products. When folks inquire with me about having these traditional items made, I forward the contact information of the makers that have opted into being on a referral list that I share. So while I am an agent, I am not a middle man, and we don't sell their goods in our boutique.

I also know that many of those makers (several of whom are Elders) rely on the income generated from sewing traditional fur and hide garments, and I have absolutely no interest in taking that away from them. It’s a matter of respect.

TAF: How do you source your furs?

Vanessa: Preference is given to First Nations trappers when buying our furs. First, I buy all the furs of my partner, George Bahm, then if we need furs that his trapline didn’t produce, we go to his cousins and uncles. If we still need furs, we extend our search to his home community of Teslin and outward from there, always giving priority to First Nations trappers.

TAF: What incentive do trappers have to sell to you, rather than sending their pelts to auction, as is the common practice?

Vanessa: We often pay the same as, if not more than, what is typically obtained through the auction houses. This is a multi-faceted decision.

We want our local trappers to have choices about where their furs go, so by offering to buy the furs instead of them having to send them out, we create an option for them. We want to put more power back into the hands of the trappers. Normally, trappers can sell at auction for an unknown (often disappointing) price, or keep the furs and make finished goods themselves -- but this is something not everyone can do due to skill, time, or interest.

We also want to help our trappers make informed decisions about which furs to target, and how to invest in capital assets for their trapline operations. Knowing the current values of furs at the outset of the trapping season gives the trappers the choice with regard to what species to target and in what quantities.

Also, in our experience, it is rewarding for the trappers to see how the furs are being used, which is not an experience many are familiar with because furs sent to auction are never seen again.

"More than Just Harvesting Fur"

TAF: So your motivation is not just to build a successful business for yourself. Tell us about your larger vision.

Vanessa: Incentivising our First Nations trappers to sell their furs to us is not my main intention. More than that, I want their trapping to be sustainable and profitable.

Having spent only part of one winter out on the trapline with my partner, I have merely glimpsed a fraction of the beauty and teachings that await on the trapline. But I know that this traditional practice, with its skill, stories and lessons, will be lost if the wild fur industry continues as it is. My hope is to protect the importance of what is out on the trail, in the quiet of a fresh snowfall, so that future generations of fur harvesters can reconnect with their ancestors and the teachings that have endured for thousands of years. Trapping is so much more than just harvesting fur.

It is from this perspective that I might play a small part in an act that builds bridges and relationships between myself, as a non-Indigenous person, and the First Nations trapping community.

SEE ALSO: "'Trapping is beautiful' says proud Cree Robert Grandjambe."

Cultural Immersion Through Weaving

TAF: You have sought to immerse yourself in First Nations culture, and in particular the textiles aspect. But you are also mindful that you yourself are non-Indigenous. Tell us about your journey. Has it been easy?

Vanessa: In addition to working with fur, I am also a Ravenstail weaver. This ancient form of weaving predates the more commonly known Chilkat, and is similar to basket weaving. It originated on the Pacific West Coast with the First Nations (Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian, among others) who wove and traded Ravenstail robes long before contact. I learned this weaving method from Lily Hope whose mother, Clarissa Rizal, was a master weaver.

I have been warmly welcomed into the weaving community, which is comprised almost exclusively of First Nations weavers. Because of the teachings I’ve been given and the protocols that have been shared with me, in addition to my own skill and cultural awareness, I am allowed to do this weaving work. That’s not to say it has been without question and even upset some members of various First Nations communities. However, we try to use these interactions to inform and to dialogue with those posing questions and expressing concern, and are able to explain the special nature of the permissions given to me to be welcomed into the weaving community. This extends to my relationship with the fur and hide-maker community.

But make no mistake, I am aware that I am a non-Indigenous maker, and I don’t for a minute pretend to be First Nations. I am a guest, and it is a privilege to be welcomed into these various circles of knowledge. I treasure that deeply and take pains to preserve that.

Adding Value to Furs

TAF: So how do you see the current state of trapping in the Yukon? Presumably all is not well, or you wouldn't be striving for change.

Vanessa: There are around 300 to 400 trapping licenses currently issued by the Yukon Department of Environment, of which I guess fewer than half are held by First Nations trappers, mostly operating on traplines that have been in their families for generations.

What I see is that most trappers, regardless of their indigeneity, are limited in how to add value to their furs. We have the Yukon Trappers Association, which works with trappers of all backgrounds to get their furs to market. They make tools, traps, scent, and boards available for purchase, and also hold workshops. The YTA will batch furs from several trappers and send them out for tanning, which is not a service that is otherwise readily available in the area. Aside from individual makers (traditional or otherwise), there aren’t local manufacturing or design facilities that are taking the furs and producing Yukon-made fur garments.

Many First Nations trappers continue to produce finished goods from their furs like mitts and hats, but as is the case with most producers, the supply chain favours the final seller and not the producer of the materials or the finished goods. If these makers have an established clientele, they are positioned to make a reasonable income, but for those who rely on retail vendors to get their products in front of consumers, their work is shockingly under-valued. For example, it’s common for a maker of moccasins (smoke- and brain-tanned moose hide, beaver fur, and beadwork) to receive only $100 from a retail store owner, regardless of the innumerable hours spent in production.

While there may be a limit to what the market will bear in terms of the final retail price of such goods, it is seldom the maker who is receiving the majority of the money for the product being sold. We’re working to improve that balance.

***

SEE ALSO:

"Fur jewellery shop works to raise awareness about Indigenous culture", Yukon News, Jan. 24, 2019.

"Yukon artist and Tlingit trapper create stunning jewelry", Broadview, Feb. 13, 2019.

***

To learn more about donating to Truth About Fur, click here.

Fur stories in the media are becoming increasingly nuanced as reporters strive for more balance or a new angle, or simply don't have time for the research needed to pick a side. Black and white stories that support or condemn fur unequivocally are becoming less common as editors seek somewhat more sophisticated, multi-faceted arguments -- but often what they get is just muddled thinking.

The most common problem the fur trade now faces is when so-called "balanced" reports just pit one side against the other, while making no attempt to sift the truth from the lies. The Independent did this in "Are faux alternatives more sustainable than the real thing?" Sure, a fur trade spokesman was allowed to explain that real fur is "a totally natural product, it is bio-degradable and in the case of wild fur it comes from conservation and population management projects.” But the same space is allotted to an animal rights spokeswoman, who claims, “There’s water pollution in the form of nitrogen and phosphorus from animal waste, air pollution from incinerating animal carcasses and releasing pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and hydrochloric acid.” Rather than investigating who's telling the truth, The Independent just leaves it up to readers to decide, and that doesn't really help anyone.

SEE ALSO: Is fur processing bad for the environment? TruthAboutFur website.

Meanwhile a Daily Mail writer gets totally muddled in "Don't hate me for wearing granny's fur!" Wearing vintage fur is great on every level, the writer asserts. "In so many ways it ticks the 'politically correct' box. It is a 100 per cent sustainable, renewable and biodegradable piece of vintage clothing that has been mended, reconditioned and recycled through three generations - possibly even a fourth when I offer it to my daughters." But then she says "a ban on new skins is laudable." So vintage fur is great for the environment but new fur isn't. Does that make any sense?

Another muddled argument which is simultaneously pro- and anti-fur comes from Argentine company Yerra, which makes luxury rugs from hide and fur. Says Yerra's owner, "Being environmentally conscious is very important to us and we don’t take this lightly." And what exactly does this mean? For one thing, it means only using hides and fur that are by-products of meat production. So using sheepskin and rabbit fur is "environmentally conscious" but using coyote and mink is not. Really? Why?

Speaking of different perspectives, last month TruthAboutFur interviewed fur designer Pamela Paquin from Massachusetts, who works exclusively with "accidental fur". Meanwhile, in New Zealand, Jane Avery works exclusively with invasive rabbits that are being eradicated anyway. (You may recall that TruthAboutFur interviewed Jane last year.)

Federal Protection for Wolves No Longer Needed?

Gray wolves seem to have bounced back in the US, and now the Fish and Wildlife Service wants to revoke their federal protection and put them under the authority of states across the Lower 48. "We need to take control of these wolves," says Tony Demboski of the Upper Peninsula Sportsmen's Alliance in Michigan. "They're cleaning up our deer herd, we've got people scared to go for a walk in the evenings. We've just got too many wolves."

Meanwhile, in Idaho and Montana, where wolf hunting was reinstated in 2009, the Associated Press reports that concerns this will hurt populations seem to be misplaced. "[W]olves are such prolific breeders that after each hunting season, their numbers bounced back the next spring. That continued even as wildlife regulators loosened trapping restrictions and allowed individual hunters and trappers to harvest multiple animals."

And speaking of wolves, the Labrador Winter Games was a chance to hold a week of seminars on clothing design, and fur sewers came from across Canada. Wolf hat, anyone?

Demand for pelts of the wolf's smaller cousin, the coyote, remains strong, says the Associated Press in "Popularity of fur-trimmed parkas a boon for coyote trappers". If you're in the mood for audio rather than print, listen to the Marketplace's take on the coyote market here:

Bits 'n' Bobs

We're thrilled for Brenda Dragon and her Fort Smith-based company, Aurora Heat, that makes fur-lined hand and foot warmers. Brenda wrote a blog post for TruthAboutFur back in 2017, when she was starting out. Now she's set for a bigger market, as Hudson's Bay Company has begun stocking her beaver fur hand-warmers in its Winnipeg store.

Jim Gibb, chairman of the Fur Institute of Canada, has a novel perspective of sustainability, as he told TruthAboutFur in "Living sustainably: A trapper’s thoughts on orange juice".

And since we started this news roundup discussing mixed messages, let's end with the viral story of YouTube "star" Yovana Mendoza Ayres. Yovana promotes a vegan lifestyle to her 2.5 million subscribers, but they turned on her when another YouTuber filmed Yovana eating ... fish! Her excuse? Her doctor said her vegan diet was harming her health!

Vegan fashion is a buzz term for clothing that doesn't use any animal products. Often promoted by activists as "cruelty-free" fashion, it's all the rage in some circles. But for every consumer who refuses to wear anything but plants and petrochemicals, there's someone else eager to explain that such choices may be doing more harm than good. Needless to say, the fur trade is extremely interested in this debate.

"There's a strong ethical case for wearing leather and fur" is one of the best overviews we've seen in the war of ideas between animal-based clothing and vegan fashion. True, it's a book review, of Putting on the dog: The animal origins of what we wear by Melissa Kwasny, so it's like reading CliffsNotes. But it makes all the right points. Consider this a "must read".

Fashion United also took a hard look at "Vegan vs animal-based fashion: which one is more sustainable?" "What is sold as vegan 'leather' is often nothing but polyester or polyurethane," writes Regina Henkel. "In other words, a plastic fiber that first of all, is made from crude oil and is therefore not renewable. Second, it is not biodegradable and thus littering our planet and third, reaches the food chain in the form of microplastics."

The Daily Mail also piled into vegan fashion. "Plastic fibres that pollute our oceans, factories using toxic chemicals, clothes that never decompose: Devotees think they’re saving the planet but we reveal the guilty secret about vegan fashion."

The Daily Sabah looked at the damage being done to the planet by fast fashion, singling out vegan leather for special criticism. "... for companies using vegan leather, they have to be more transparent with their customers and declare the chemicals that they use while processing the fake leather and explain every step that the vegan leather goes through before reaching its customers."

That's called traceability. Increasingly, consumers want full disclosure about how products are brought to market, and TruthAboutFur is happy to report that the fur trade is ahead of the curve. A comprehensive new certification program, FurMark, is set to be rolled out next year.

Meanwhile, riding on the popularity of vegan fashion, PETA et al. are pushing hard to have all animal products expunged from the fashion scene, even those that don't involve killing. In "First fur, now wool?" Bill Wirtz of the Consumer Choice Center explains that "The war on animal products is bad for conservation and bad for the poor."

"Gibb's Adventures"

The name Jim Gibb is familiar to Canada's trapping community. When he's not trapping, he's keeping bees, operating a saw mill, and serving as chairman of the Fur Institute of Canada. Jim recently launched a YouTube channel "to showcase how we, as rural people, live our lives. I am very disappointed by how people are portrayed by others who don’t understand trapping, hunting, fishing," he told Timmins Today. "My plan is to showcase what we do and how we do it so that those who are interested can see for themselves." Check out "Gibb's Adventures" on YouTube here.

In other hunting and trapping news, coyotes continue to grab the headlines, thanks to the amazing popularity of coyote-trimmed parkas. Aside from being a boon to trappers, this is also benefiting companies selling the parkas, and Canada Goose wants to give back. It commissioned 14 Inuit seamstresses to create one-of-a-kind jackets, and all proceeds from their sale will go to the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, a non-profit serving Inuit communities in Canada's north.

In case you're wondering whether there are enough coyotes to go round, fear not. "It's been shown over and over again that coyotes can't be eradicated," says Laura Palmer with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife to the Messenger-Inquirer. "Their density is so high and they're so resilient that neighbouring coyotes will just move [into their place] in just a matter of months and you're going to be back to square one."

SEE ALSO: Will urban coyotes change the animal rights debate?

Farewell Karl Lagerfeld

Last month, the iconic creative director of both Chanel and Fendi, and owner of his eponymous fashion label, Karl Lagerfeld, passed away. Articles celebrating his life were all over the media, so here are just a couple of good ones, from The Independent, and Women's Wear Daily. He will always be remembered as a fierce champion of fur, saying: “In a meat-eating world, wearing leather for shoes and even clothes, the discussion of fur is childish.”

And in other miscellaneous news ...

• Are you a fur retailer? Is business slow? Maybe you can pick up some tips from TruthAboutFur's blog post "The art and science of making sales".

• A price of Facebook's popularity is that it is under enormous pressure to censor the content its users post - and we're not just talking fake news. Presumably as a knee-jerk reaction to complaints from animal rights groups, it's been blocking ... then unblocking ... then blocking ads by an Alaskan native selling sea otter fur hats. The same thing has been happening with sealskin products.

• Continuing a long tradition, started by Joe Namath, of gracing the Super Bowl wearing in-your-face fur, rapper Big Boi joined the halftime show at LIII in a full-length red fox fur coat. Inevitably, PETA had a hissy fit.

• We're assured this is an isolated incident and polar bears are not taking over, but the inhabitants of Novaya Zemlya in Russia have had enough! Following a huge influx of bears, a state of emergency has been called, but hunting them is banned, reports the Siberian Times. What to do?

Our favourite story last month came from Minnesota where coyote fur is helping to fight cancer! A lot of creative ways are used to raise money for charity, but this is the first time we've heard of a coyote hunting event, appropriately called Coyotes Fur Cancer. A bunch of hunters spend the day stalking the critters, then they bring their catch to a popular gathering spot, Blooming Prairie Cue Company, where their families and friends are tucking into chili. There's a silent auction and a raffle, the coyotes end up with a buyer, and all the proceeds go to the Blooming Prairie Cancer Group. In its inaugural event last year, Coyotes Fur Cancer raised $17,000, and we've heard that this year's event made $25,000!

Of course, the reason coyote fur currently makes a good fundraiser is the high prices pelts are fetching, buoyed by the popularity of fur-lined parkas. At the first sale of the season by the Ohio State Trappers Association, the Sandusky Register called coyote pelts "the stars of the auction. ... Although the softer, paler-colored western fur is preferred, the demand cannot be met without using eastern pelts, too."

More evidence of the popularity of coyote-lined parkas was seen in Chicago during the recent super-cold snap. Eight people wearing Canada Goose coats had them stolen right off their backs at gunpoint!

Fur-lined parkas are hugely popular in England too. A TruthAboutFur member put boots on the ground there over Christmas, and was astonished to see fur-lined parkas (real and fake) everywhere. See "Brexit, fur-trimmed parkas and trendy vegans in London Town".

Coyotes also continue to make the news for the wrong reason: their increasing, and sometimes scary, presence in built-up areas. In Destin, Florida, coyotes are now “a really bad problem”, while residents of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, are alarmed at the increase in coyote sightings.

SEE ALSO: Will urban coyotes change the animal rights debate?

Furbearers in BC, Fishers in Montana

In wild fur news, all is not well in the forests of British Columbia. According to trappers, furbearer populations are declining because prime habitat is being lost to a host of causes, like over-logging, herbicides, wild fires and pine beetles. It's interesting to note that it is trappers who are sounding the alarm here. They are an important source of information for wildlife managers and conservationists.

SEE ALSO: Trapping and Sustainability, on TruthAboutFur's website.

Meanwhile, it's unclear how the Northern Rockies fishers of Montana are doing. A campaign has been launched to ban all trapping in fisher habitat, with supporters saying trapping, including accidental catches, is a serious threat to the species. But a federal study found no evidence of this. The one thing everyone agrees on is they don't know how many there are.

REMIX, Black Women in Fur

On the fashion front, 10 finalists have been selected to compete in REMIX 2019. This prestigious contest, hosted by the International Fur Federation and supported by Vogue Talents, nurtures young international designers who love working with fur. The final will be held in Milan on February 24. “The new generation is our future," said Sara Sozzani Maino, deputy editor in chief of Vogue Italia and head of Vogue Talents. "Never before in our history has it been so essential to look at sustainability and start thinking about producing in a sustainable way. REMIX gives designers the opportunity to enhance the concept of sustainability by creating special projects.“

The New York Times ran a piece last month with a take on fur that we've not heard before: "A Black Legacy, Wrapped Up in Fur". Is there really a race angle to anti-fur campaigning? “As soon as black women could afford to buy mink coats, white society and white women said fur was all wrong," is the claim. Whether you think there's something to this or not, this will get the grey cells working.

It's unofficial, but apparently a fur-trimmed coat from Copenhagen-based brand Saks Potts is the "most highly documented coat on all of Instagram." Says the blog Who What Wear, "Log onto Instagram on any given day and you'd be hard-pressed not to come across one of the many candy-coloured creations styled by fashion girls or worn by one of the brand's many celebrity fans like Kendall Jenner and Cardi B."

Industry Overviews

The fur trade strives to educate the public about how we operate, so it's great when the media help to spread the word. Last month we were spoiled for industry overviews.

The Cache Valley Daily took a look at the state of mink farming in the US through the eyes of an Idaho family and Michael Whelan of Fur Commission USA, with over-production being a particular concern. “Retail sales are as good as they have ever been. We do see light at the end of the tunnel,” Whelan said. “At its peak, there were 80 million pelts on the market. We are down to 40 to 50 (million) pelts this year, more in line with the demand.”

Women's Wear Daily also did an overview of the fur retail market. Negative news tends to grab the headlines, but sales tell a different story. "While designer labels like Gucci, Burberry and Michael Kors have vowed to go fur-free, the fur trade is estimated to be a $35.8 million business at retail," it reported.

On the trapping front, have you ever wondered what trappers do with their pelts after they're dressed and ready for market? And here's a realistic look at the state of trapping in West Virginia, including why lovers of the pastime still do it. "It is easy to see where the lure (no pun intended) of trapping can get you," says lifelong outdoorsman Roger Wolfe. "When you are checking your set ups it can feel like Christmas morning. You never know what might be just up around the bend."

Educating people about the fur trade and related lifestyles can take many forms. Sharon Firth, a four-time Olympian and Northwest Territories skiing legend, is lobbying senators and members of Parliament to incorporate fur into the next Canadian Olympic uniform. Firth and her late twin sister Shirley were the first female Indigenous athletes to represent Canada at the Winter Olympics. "The last time they had real fur was the 1972 Olympics and I'm proud to say that I was there wearing real fur on my parka," Firth told CBC. She specifically called out the red parkas worn by Canadian athletes at the 2010 Olympics, which were adorned with fake fur. "The fur industry has a history in the North and then to have fake fur on coats, that's crazy. We're not plastic people. It's pitiful."

In New York, the public High School of Fashion Industries has revived its teaching of working with fur, with all materials provided by Fur New York. The school is located just south of the city's old Fur District, once home to more than 450 fur businesses. Now only 130 remain, employing 1,100 people, many of them nearing retirement, and Fur New York is eager to see new workers enter the trade.

Meanwhile, the Nova Scotia association Women that Hunt has started serving meals of wild meat to families who use local food banks and shelters. Helping the Hungry is a joint initiative of the hunting community and Feed Nova Scotia, which allows hunters to donate a portion of their deer, moose or bear meat to help feed families. In turn, Women that Hunt hope to educate and inspire women and youth into the hunting and fishing lifestyle.

Or you can educate people by taking to the air waves, like Jen Shears, owner of Natural Boutique in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, specialising in seal products. Shears has some choice words for protesters outside her store, calling them an “elitist cult” engaged in “a special kind of narcissism” based on “short-sighted emotion” and “racist and unsustainable beliefs.” But at least business has been good. "Business has been booming the last couple of days thanks to the advertising that has come about because of these protesters," says Shears. "When you make a bunch of Newfoundlanders mad then they really support you and support the messages around the sustainable culture that we have here."

Chanel Drops Exotic Skins, but Continues with Responsible Fur

Designer brands are headline-grabbers when it comes to the debate about sustainable use and fashion. In 2017, it was Gucci's misguided justification for dropping real fur that focused media attention on the sustainability of real fur versus fake fur and other synthetics made of petroleum. A question inevitably raised at the time was how Gucci could justify dropping fur while continuing to use exotic skins like alligator and python. Gucci dodged the question, but that is harder to do now that rival brand Chanel has announced it will be dropping exotic skins while maintaining responsibly sourced fur.

According to a Chanel statement: “We are continually reviewing our supply chains to ensure they meet our expectations of integrity and traceability. In this context, it is our experience that it is becoming increasingly difficult to source exotic skins which match our ethical standards.”

In reality, it seems to have been a purely business decision, less about ethical standards and more about Chanel's failure to maintain supply chains for top-quality materials. Business of Fashion said Chanel had simply been squeezed out of supply chains controlled by other brands, while Christy Plott, an operator of crocodile and alligator farms in Florida, told BoF, “This is 100 percent the case of Chanel being a loser in this market and being pushed out by Hermès, Kering and LVMH."

But whatever Chanel's real reason for dropping exotic skins, the principles involved in the conservation and sustainable use of crocs and pythons are precisely the same as those applied to some furbearers. It was thus important when representatives of the International Union for Conservation of Nature pointed out the positive role played by luxury skin markets both in conserving certain wild species and providing livelihoods for humans who live with and depend on these wildlife.

Fake Furs Shown to Share Problems with Other Plastics

Meanwhile, the industry's effort to point out the serious problems with fake fur continues to gain traction in mainstream media, including WWD's "Plastic waste fuels the fire in faux vs. real fur debate," The Frisky's "How does faux fur compare to real fur coats", and The Independent's "Fashion industry turns a blind eye with unsustainable fake fur, says MP Mary Creagh." The debate is also being thrashed out on a local level in Dallas, Texas, where, despite the balmy temperatures, a furrier says he hasn't seen even the slightest dip in business over the last few years. "We have so much business we don’t have to advertise," Marcene Reiss says.

Despite some attention being given to the environmental problems of fake furs and other petroleum-based synthetics, TruthAboutFur's senior researcher, Alan Herscovici, decries the paucity of facts and serious analysis in the media's coverage of the fur debate, and would like to see more in-depth coverage of fur's sustainability credentials.

Nonetheless, TheFashionLaw.com suggested that "The conversation about fur became far more nuanced in 2018." Most interesting, TheFashionLaw makes a case for an important view that's rarely heard in the media: that designer brands are dropping fur simply to increase profits. "Fashion companies can save a lot of money and increase their profit margins by making faux fur coats and selling them at a similar price to real fur coats,” says one interviewee, journalist Alden Wicker. ”The motivation is money, not altruism.”

Another is "Fur and the necessity of consumer engagement". "Buying a faux fur coat does not make one an ethical consumer, and neither does eschewing plastic straws," explains Alison McArthur. "... Educating ourselves on these issues will allow us to become more conscious consumers and to make better informed decisions about our purchases. It would allow us to consider, for example, why many of us wouldn’t wear real fur, but would be perfectly content to buy a leather handbag or shoes."

Bits 'n' Bobs

The US Congress has agreed to make it easier to kill sea lions to help protect runs of salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River and its tributaries. In addition to helping conservation efforts, this move is a rare case of introducing flexibility to the application of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which has banned all takes of marine mammals since 1972.

According to John Zander of raw fur company Zander & Sons, China is playing an important role in the raw fur market, due to high demand for finished products and low dressing costs. "We know two things, one is there are a lot of Chinese who want to wear fur and second, the manufacturing end over there is a fraction of what it costs us. To dress a coyote here costs us $15. They do it for $6 in China. Over there they dress a muskrat for $1. Here it costs $6 which is more than the original price of the pelt.”

And last but not least, here's a great video on trapping in Saskatchewan, with a focus on the role trapping plays in the conservation of wildlife populations.

Some populations of large wildlife appear to be thriving, on both sides of the Atlantic, which is great from a conservation viewpoint, and sometimes good for hunters and trappers, but usually not so good for the people who live alongside these dangerous animals.

One species of large wildlife that's causing conflict across North America is the "urban coyote", so it's fortunate that the market for coyote pelts is strong, thanks in large part to Canada Goose's coyote-lined parkas and their imitators. In Saskatchewan, producer of some of the finest coyote pelts, trappers are now setting records. The coyote harvest in 2017-18 was the highest on record, accounting for a staggering 83% of all income from wild furs. Not surprisingly, the number of trapping licenses issued was also up, which the president of the Saskatchewan Trappers Association, Wrangler Hamm, says is a national trend.

Staying in Canada, experts still can't agree on whether polar bear populations are going up, down, or sideways. Most authorities, including Environment Canada, say the overall trend is down, but Inuit in Nunavut say there are so many now, they're a threat to human safety. A proposed management plan, to go to public hearing this week, calls for a relaxation of hunting restrictions.

Meanwhile south of the border, the US House of Representatives has passed a bill that would remove gray wolves nationwide from protection under the Endangered Species Act and open them to state hunting and trapping seasons. Farmers and ranchers won't be celebrating just yet though. Similar bills have passed the House in recent years but stalled in the Senate.

And over in Europe, it's great that conservation programs for wolves and bears are working, but inevitable that conflicts with humans, in particular farmers, are increasing. In France alone, wolves killed 10,000 sheep in 2016. Now the EU has promised to stick taxpayers with the bill for compensating farmers for any damages, plus costs for electric fences and guard dogs. Culling has its supporters, and that support will only grow the more successful these conservation programs are.

Plastic Clothing No Good - All Agreed?

The opinion now appears to be unanimous that plastic fast fashion, including most fake fur, is bad for the environment, but it bears repeating until everyone gets the message. Remember, the revelation that plastic microfibres are turning up everywhere has only been on everyone's lips for a couple of years. So it's bitter-sweet to learn that plastic has now been found in the poop of fur seals and, inevitably, humans.

Blogger and influencer Samantha De Riviziis, a.k.a. Lady Fur, told Italian wire service ANSA that purveyors of plastic clothing must be more honest about what they're selling. "There's a lot of confusion," she says. "Designers should communicate more clearly with consumers, defining what it means to be 'organic', 'eco', 'green', 'fur-free', 'vegan' and 'eco-fur', because it doesn't always mean respect for the environment."

One designer who got a dressing down for setting a bad example is Stella McCartney. Wittingly or not, McCartney is promoting faux leather made of plastic, says British fashion designer Patrick Grant. "Almost certainly Stella is using the very best alternatives [to real leather], but the problem is that all the people that have seen what she’s doing have copied her and polyurethane has taken off as an alternative to leather. But it is bad s**t: the way it’s made and the way it doesn’t biodegrade." Grant has also Tweeted words of wisdom about where the real problem lies (see above).

Truth About Fur Audience Growing

Truth About Fur wants to reach as wide an audience as possible, so we were elated that our blog posts in November were among our most popular ever.

Our senior researcher, Alan Herscovici, discussed everything that society stands to lose if the recent spate of fur retail bans spreads beyond California. "The recent surge in anti-fur campaigning makes me feel angry, but also very sad," he writes. "Angry, because most anti-fur rhetoric is so completely misinformed and malicious. Sad, because the public debate about fur is based on a grotesque caricature of the fur trade that completely ignores the unique knowledge, skills, culture and, yes, values maintained by this remarkable heritage industry."

And Derek Martel of the Fur Institute of Canada interviewed proud Cree trapper Robert Grandjambe, who is also the focus of a new CBC documentary, Fox Chaser: A Winter on the Trapline. “People need to better understand the importance of what trappers do, because I don’t think they get it,” says Grandjambe. “We must educate people to understand that everything the trapper does contributes to a natural and sustainable way of life and the environment, and is crucial for the culture and health of our communities.”

Thank you to all our readers who "Like" and "Share" our posts on social media, and please consider joining our 64,000 followers on Facebook and let us know what you think.

Looney Tunes

People have been saying for years that we should ignore PETA's publicity-grabbing stunts, but the media were all over this one so it's too late. PETA wants an English village called Wool to change its name to Vegan Wool because its current name "promotes hideous animal cruelty". As PETA no doubt anticipated, the village council refused to even discuss this stupid proposal, but heh, PETA got its free column inches!

Equally absurd was a lady guest on the TV show Good Morning Britain who got torn apart by host Piers Morgan. According to this animal lover, guide dogs for the blind are unethical because the dogs haven't given their consent to be used in this way!