Fur Trapping and Farming

Millions of animals are trapped and killed each year for their skins and fur. Animals are also farmed globally for their pelts in factory farm operations. Foxes, chinchillas, lynxes, mink, and even rabbits, cats, and dogs fall victim to the fur industry.

Types of Traps

• A steel-jaw leghold trap operate just as the name implies. This trap is designed to snap closed on an animal’s leg—or any part of the animal it happens to close on—holding the animal there until the trapper arrives. These traps rip flesh, sever tendons, and break bones.
• The Conibear® trap is similar in design to the steel-jaw leghold trap in that it is designed to snap shut when the trigger is activated. The major difference between these two traps is that the Conibear® is a larger, full body trap designed to snap shut at the base of the captured animal’s spinal chord, instantly killing the animal. However, it is rare that an animal happens to trigger one of these traps in the absolute perfect position. Therefore, it is rare that an animal trapped in a Conibear® is killed instantly.
• A snare trap is merely a coil of wire fashioned into a noose at one end, with an anchor at the other end. Snares can catch animals by the neck, midsection, or a limb. As the animal tries to become free from the trap, the wire grows tighter around the animal’s body.

Fur Factory Farms

• Crammed into tiny cages stacked on top of each other, fur-bearing animals in fur farms are unable to move freely.
• Animals confined on fur farms are fed meat byproducts and drink water through systems that often freeze in winter.
• The most common animal farmed for fur is the mink. Because they are accustomed to roaming free and do not form family units in the wild, minks exhibit neurotic behavior when confined in large numbers. These animals maintain their wild mentality and, despite years of farming, have never been fully domesticated.
• Fur farmed animals must be killed in a way that will not harm their pelts. Small animals are crammed into air-tight boxes and gassed with vehicular exhaust, which does not kill every animal. Animals unlucky enough to survive are skinned alive. Animals who do not fit into small boxes are anally or vaginally electrocuted. Still others are suffocated, poisoned, or beaten to death.
• In some countries, such as China, companion animals such as dogs and cats are farmed for their fur. In the 1990s, public outcry against this practice convinced several countries to ban dog and cat fur importation, as seen in the U.S. Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act.
• Several countries have banned import, export, sale, and production of dog and cat fur, including the United States, Australia, and all states within the European Union.

How You Can Combat Fur-Trapping and Fur-Farming

• Educate others on the grim life fur animals live and how horrific their deaths are.
• Never purchase clothing or accessories that feature fur or those made from designers that use fur.
• Contact your legislators and ask them to support bans on trapping and U.S. fur farms.