What do you think about fur coats?

I don't care for them.

For FAQs about fur, go to:
http://www.hsus.org/current/fur_qa.html

They may be beautiful, and nice and warm, but I certainly wouldn't wear one. There are plenty of other things we can wear to keep warm, and I see no reason to kill animals just for their fur. I always thought people who wore fur coats were rather snobbish, like they just wanted one to go with their big expensive diamond rings. Blech!

You go girl!

As far as the animal is concerned, there's no difference between fur and leather. I can understand those who won't wear or eat any products that require the death of an animal (although I disagree with them), but it's sheer hypocrisy to oppose fur coats while still wearing leather shoes or eating meat.

Rich, frail ladies wear furs; big, scary bikers wear leathers. It not hypocrisy: it's self-preservation.

Women in fur coats look like hookers.

i think they represent cruelty and vanity, i do not own and would not own a fur.

I dont like them at all. Animals can be used for their skins if you are eating their meat too, but if you are killing an animal purely for its coat then it is disgusting. They are ugly anyway.

I'm fine with them. Please don't yell at me. I don't understand why people get all bent out of shape about fur, but there's not nearly the uproar over leather. I guess it's the whole "trapping" aspect of it, I don't know. I would wear one if one was giving to me. Well, not in New York, because PETA scares the crap out of me. They're a wretched bunch of people. I used to work at Conde Nast publications, the home of tons of magazines like Vogue, Glamour, Mademoiselle, Allure, GQ, etc., and PETA was always pulling dramatic stunts outside of the building.
I have a fake leopard coat and I was even scared to wear that around the place.

You've been a very prolific survey creator lately! Good job!

no thoughts

For the most part, I think fur coats are ugly. The only fur coats I actually consider pretty are the ones made from rabbit fur. I don't own a fur coat, or even a coat with fur trim. I always wondered why they used to give away mink stoles on TV shows. They are hideous, especially when you can actually see the mink head on them. I wouldn't wear one if someone gave it to me for free and paid me to wear it.

I own two fur coats, although even the idea of touching them repulses me. They're both inherited: one from my great-grandmother, hare. It's in perfect condition. The other one belonged to my aunt, who was a bit of a faux-jet-setter. It's muskrat and very nasty-looking. Ian keeps bugging me to throw it away. It really is awful. The hare would probably fetch a lot, since it's a beautiful relic of 20s London tailoring and the buttons are cultivated pearls. I'm an incredible pack rat and sentimentalist, so I'll probably hold on to both of them.
I'm impossible.

I would not wear one. They are 'over the top' as far as I'm concerned. They seem to represent cruelty because the animal is usually killed just for its fur. Leather shoes and jackets are usually made from the skins of animals that are eaten as well.

I used to think that it was disgusting and cruelty to animals and all that, but then I realized that I never think twice about my leather boots, so it made me a huge hypocrite. I'm not a vegetarian either, so it seems stupid for me to simply rule out fur coats alone.

I see your point, but I think there is a difference between fur and leather. If everyone stopped wearing fur coats, there would be no more farms raising mink and chinchilla just for their furs. If everyone stopped wearing leather, there would still be cattle killed for their meat. I think most non-vegetarians consider meat a necessity, so I don't think beef will stop being consumed any time soon, and the leather is a by-product, so we might as well use it.

Thanks! It seems to go in spurts- either my mind is blank or I think of a bunch at once.

I have a lot to say about the subject.

I own a Nutria fur coat, it was payment for a job I did. I said that I would accept it on the condition the fur was from Louisiana Nutria. These animals have no place in Louisiana. They were imported by the Tabasco family for their private zoo. They got loose and have since invaded the State. They are a nuisance and do not belong in that ecosystem. The State is paying people to trap them so they can control the damage these animals are doing. I found out later that the furs for my coat came from South America because the pelts were of better quality... What am I to do? The coat was made for me, to my specs and the animals are dead anyway - refusing the coat would not bring them back to life. I was upset. I did not want a beaver coat (although they insisted that I choose beaver); shaved Nutria (or Coypu) is similar to shaved beaver but not as heavy nor resistant. I just wanted to help Louisiana. Beaver, in Canada, is a much better fur for our weather but the animal is not an invader so I didn't want a beaver. My aunt recently gave me her full length beaver coat. She honoured me with a valued possession of hers, what am I to do? I kept it, it'll keep me from buying one and contributing to the trapping.

I have no problem dealing with farmers raising animals for their fur, it's no worst than raising cattle or chickens (in fact, I think the way they raise chickens is much worst!)

I have to question people like Brigitte Bardeau, who killed the market for seal fur. I don't like to see the pups clubbed to death, but that is not the only way to get seal pelts to the market. Adult seal skin is very beautiful and most of it comes from hunters in the Northern parts of the globe and adult seals are not hunted like the pups were.

I know that Kaleb777 is with me on this one, there is a market for such products, why not take advantage of it if it is done with good sense and care? Brigitte has removed from the Inuit, the only real outside revenue that they have ever had ... Let's face it, THEY don't (and can't) grow broccoli to export!!

Spidertea, you have the most bizarre and, as well, the most interesting questions posted...

Oooh! Bite my tongue!! I thought you would be with me on this one!!
By the by, I eat beaver (when it's around)! Inuit hunt seal for the meat, the skin is just a by-product that they can profit from...

Thank you. I like bizarre.

Heck, what are you worried about? Nobody ever yells around here. (Ha ha!)

I'm very much against cruelty to animals, but I think some folks go off the deep end with their scare tactics and throwing paint and all that crap. They just make a bad name for people who care about animals. I guess there'll always be extremists. I don't care much for the dykes on bikes in gay pride parades either. I guess I'm just not a go-off-the-deep-end kinda gal.

Yes, but what's the difference between killing animals for food and killing animals for clothing? If it's OK to raise a cow and then kill it for meat, then it's equally OK to raise a mink and kill it for fur. It's not as if a mink has any more moral right to life than a cow.

I must admit, I have eaten the odd beaver myself.

only the odd ones?

I have no objections to fur coats when they're functional - if you live in a cold area and a fur cap or fur gloves or fur coat helps keep you warm. Especially if it's a by-product of producing meat. That usually means wool (or leather, but that's not quite on topic).

I don't like the use of fur for glamour or fashion. I don't like the idea of raising animals only to harvest their fur.

Got any good recipes?

my opinion on fur coats wasn't actually meant as a reply to you...

What I meant is that there are lots of other things we can wear to keep us warm besides furs, but many people feel that they can't get proper nutrition without meat. To me there would be a big difference between killing an animal just for sport and not using it for anything, and killing an animal for food. In my opinion, killing an animal just for its fur is barely a step up from killing it for no reason.

I see what you mean, but I don't think it's as big a difference as that. Vegetarians survive perfectly well without meat, so we can't really claim that meat is in any way necessary. In which case, killing an animal for meat or for clothing isn't all that different.

Well, that's how I justify it to myself, and I guess it is rather hypocritical. But it's not like I'm some big activist. If I have a chance to vote to outlaw inhumane traps or that sort of thing, I do, but I'm not out throwing red paint on people who wear furs. I just wouldn't wear one myself. BTW, my dad was a furrier before I was born and also lived on a mink farm for a couple years, so I've heard a lot of stories.

I think they are kind of tacky, unless they are worn by the animal of course...I have these associations: On women, Margaret Dumont from the Marx Brothers movies. On men, Bob Guccione, Penthouse magazine publisher.

Warm and fuzzy...

I'm not in favor of killing an animal just for its fur. At the same time, I think not using every part of an animal killed for food is criminal. In the case of fur coats...that would pretty much limit my choices to rabbit and raccoon. Yes some people eat 'coon. Bear would make a good coat, but don't know anyone who actually uses it.

I have a few old fur coats that I'm going to make into Teddy Bears. I personally would never wear one. I don't think it's even necessary to make them any longer.There are some really good 'faux furs'

Yes unfortunately. Thanks for the opinion that wasn't meant to be a reply to me. i thought I was extra popular with all my replies today. Most of them were mistakes like yours.

Take one beaver, wash it thoroughly, pull apart.......

I love real fur coats. They're soft and beautiful. My mother had some real fur coats, they were beautiful, I wish I had them right now. I also wish I had her hat collection, gorgeous. Classy! And no, before you ask, we weren't wealthy.

I detest fur coats. I'd like the people who wear them to imagine what it would be like to be skinned, to have their flesh torn from their bodies. There is absolutely no excuse for it, fur coats are nice enough to look at, but they don't need to be real - use fake fur. Just thinking about it makes my blood boil.

Do you think skinned tortured animals are beautiful too?

Do you think the beef and chicken are singing songs, when they are killed to put food on the table? We as humans have dominion over the animals of the earth. The animals are killed before their skins are used for coats, pretty much the same as the animals are killed before they are eaten.

I have two coats with fur collars. One was a gift - a 1940s coat that belonged to a friend's grandmother. The other I bought at a garage sale, a 1950s coat that belonged to another friend.
I wouldn't wear a full fur coat - for a start, it never gets cold enough here to wear it, but I don't see the need to kill animals just for their fur. I have no problem with leather or sheepskin because we use the rest of the animal too.

My grandma wanted to give me her old fur coat, and I told her I'd donate it to PETA for their anti-fur demonstrations if she did.

My Mum used to mutter 'fur coat-no knickers' whenever we used to walk passed someone wearing fur. To this day I find fur coats somehow shameful and embarrassing.

I love fur and am glad to see its return to popularity!

I loathe furs! Grr.

Good for you!!