No reason for Army to still be using bear fur

IT IS estimated that more than 95 per cent of the UK public are against wearing fur and many designers have stopped using this symbol of cruelty.

It is therefore disgraceful that black bears continue to be slaughtered in Canada for the Queen’s Guards ceremonial headgear.

It is thought that one in seven bears escapes instant slaughter and escapes with wounds.

They suffer an agonising slow death from blood loss or starvation.

In some parts of Canada nursing mother bears can be shot, leading to the death of orphaned cubs.

The bear skin caps serve no military purpose and each one costs £1,315. UK taxpayers are funding this cruelty.

The global company Ecopel, a faux fur manufacturer together with the campaigning charity People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have created a natural-looking faux fur that meets all the standards required by the MoD for the caps.

Sadly, Ben Wallace, Secretary of State for Defence, has so far refused to replace cruel bear fur with the alternative faux fur.

Dominic Dyer, wildlife protection and animal welfare campaigner, says that this inaction is an absolute disgrace.

In these days when the protection of the natural world is so important, surely the non-humans who live in the natural world also deserve protection especially from this unnecessary cruelty.

Elizabeth Allison