Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CAGED FOXES FATTENED UP FOR THE KILL
OVERFED and trapped in a tiny cage, this hideously overweight fox is bred in appalling conditions to boost its fur yield for clothing manufacturers.
An undercover investigation in western Finland found bloated animals barely able to move, five times their natural weight, with thick rolls of fur over their eyes.
Claire Bass, of anti-fur campaigners Humane Society International, said: “Just when you thought the fur industry couldn’t get more unethical, it hits a shocking new low with foxes bred so large the poor beautiful creatures can hardly move, or even see.
“The fur industry is about profit and cares nothing for welfare.”
Some of the farmed foxes weighed by animal rights activists reached 19kg, way above their expected 3.5kg. The devas- tating results were caused by overbreeding by genetic selection.
It would typically take around 10 to 20 normal foxes to make a fur coat but the animals are also used to make hats, gilets and trims for jacket hoods.
Over the last five years more than £2.5million of fur items have been imported into the UK from Finland.
Despite the UK banning fur farming in 2000, campaigners insist we still import huge amounts from other countries.
The fur shown in these pictures would normally be sold under a top fur brand, and could end up in clothing sold in designer labels’ flagship boutiques. Claire added: “Consumers will be rightly shocked by the hideous images which underline the need to turn our back on fur for good.”
HUMANE ANTI-FUR CAMPAIGNER