If you think a practice is only “ethical” if you’d accept it being done to you, you are opening a whole new can of worms. By this measure, the acts of any carniverous animal are unethical, since no animal wants to be eaten.

Hi Jennie, some clarifications are needed here. First up, you should know that while China is the world’s leader in the making of fur apparel, the vast majority of fur garments imported to North America and the EU use pelts that originated in these places, were sent to China for manufacturing, then reimported. Pelts farmed in China tend to be of lower quality and are primarily for their domestic market.

As for the Chinese fur trade skinning animals alive (and boiled, you say?), we have to disagree. See, for example, https://truthaboutfur.com/skinning-fur-animals-alive-video-exposed-as-complete-fraud/ For several reasons, skinning animals alive for their fur makes no sense. This is a myth perpetuated by animal rights activists.

Most wild furs on the international market today come from North America where trapping is strictly regulated. Traps in Canada, for example, are now certified to conform with the Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards. To learn more, see for example https://truthaboutfur.com/trapping-is-humane

80% of global fur is produced by China, while the country has no animal welfare legislation/protection laws (where animals ARE being skinned and boiled alive for their pelts).

And what about fur acquired from animals trapped in the wild? I personally believe the traps that are used by hunters cause unnecessary pain.

It’s not strictly correct to say that there are alternative forms of mass-produced clothing that do not cause animal suffering. Almost all large-scale human activities impact on animal life, if not directly then indirectly and unintentionally. I recommend you research the Aral Sea, where an entire ecosystem was destroyed and countless animal lives lost to produce more cotton. What we need is a holistic approach to environmental management that scrutinises the indirect impacts of human activities as much as the direct ones. Thankfully we are moving in this direction fast, and it’s a fact that the fur trade in its current form has almost no negative impact on the environment, certainly compared to alternatives like petroleum-based synthetics, cotton, rayon, etc.

Yes and no, Ashvir. Many people would agree that the number one problem facing Earth is over-population by humans. Culling of humans is not the solution, however. Fortunately, it is much easier, in theory at least, to control reproduction in humans than it is in wildlife. Unfortunately, and for a variety of reasons, many families still insist on having more than two kids. So before you go out and “cull” your neighbour, count how many kids you’ve produced.