Fur: the brutal reality (Background to Worldwide participation in Fur-Free Friday 2008)

Animals, indispensable for the survival of the fur trade are not just captured, but hunted to death for their ‘biggest asset’.

Is fur so irresistible, that innocent animals are not just killed, but have to endure terrible suffering? And for what – our satisfaction and pleasure?

 

Those captured in sharp steel traps, suffer the most excrutiating pain. The sharp steel digs into their bodies, legs or paws.

On the other hand, hunted animals are shot and killed instantly or bleed to death.

At other times however, the animal suffers in a trap for hours or even days, before the hunters snap their necks in half or even tear up their chests. 

In both the above cases, these same traps may cripple and kill thousands of dogs, cats or any other unsuspecting animal that happens to cross its path.

In an effort to free themselves, they often bite off their own paw to escape.

 
Fur farms

According to Peta, animals that have been bred on fur farms spend their entire lives in small, dirty cages.

They suffer physical and psychological before they are killed.

To avoid the fur being damaged, some farmers kill bigger animals (like foxes) with an electric shock. 

This means they electrocute them through their mouth, anus or vagina, burning their inner organs.

Animals killed by electricity feel the intensive pain of a heart attack while they are fully conscience.

Another method of killing includes poisoning with gas which leads to  suffocation.

In some cases, nearly 20 little animals have been pressed into a box through which poisonous gasses are released.

Other methods include killing animals in a decompression chamber, where compressed air bursts their inner organs.

 

Fur facts

Did you know that to make just one fur coat, you need to kill:

·         12 – 15 Lynx

·         10 – 15 Wolves or Coyotes

·         10 – 24 Foxes

·         16 -20 Beavers

·         27 -30 Racoons

·         60 – 80 Minks

·         60 – 100 Squirrels

·         130 – 200 Chinchilla

Making a difference….

In the past decade or so, the fashion industry has seen several leading names, turn to fur alternatives in their designs.

Such progressive designers include, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Stella McCartney, Calvin Klein and Vivienne Westwood are several amongst many.

Hollywood starlets like Alicia Silverstone, Kim Bassinger, Charlize Theron and Pamela Anderson are involved in a number of animal rights campaigns, protesting against the cruelty, fur-bearing animals must endure.

Tyra Banks and other internationally renowned super-models have also turned their backs on fur, raising awareness on the fur industry.  

In the UK itself, various High Street stores have adopted a fur free policy. Boots, H&M, Marks and Spencer’s, Dorothy Perkins, Selfridges, John Lewis and House of Fraser are all on the list.

Saying ‘no’ to fur has even reached as high up as the Monarchy.

The Royal Guardsmen’s iconic hats (made from the fur of Canadian black bears) came under scrutiny, and are to be replaced with more eco-friendly alternatives.

What alternative?

Furriers claim that the manufacture of polyester and nylon copies of the “real thing” involves chemicals that pollute the environment.

Also, there is a great deal of risk to the health of the factory workers who have to handle the fake fur.

The American Fur Commission has claimed that it takes one gallon of oil to make three just fake fur jackets.

Real fur, on the other hand, is natural and biodegradable, and therefore more ethical than artificial fibres, goes the argument.

Click here to view article on the group blog – Minerva 

Mumbai attacks: A friend’s account of events

                                                                                                                                                        

Former glory: The Taj Palace hotel; Source: Wikipedia

The recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai were just horrendous. It is believed to be one of the worst India has seen in years.

A friend, also studying Journalism, but in St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai had a harrowing time when nine or ten of the blasts happened within a five minute radius of where she stays.

I just thought I would share what she had to say on that horrific night.

About 12 places were bombed and fired upon in Bombay yesterday from 10 pm onwards.

And about nine or ten of them were in South Mumbai (that’s where she lives). All the blasts happened within a five minute radius of where I stay.

One round of firing was right outside my PG (Paying Guest) accommodation. We all heard the gun shots and people screaming and running helter-skelter.

Two important police officials were shot dead right outside where we stay. The terrorists actually passed by our place.

This place called Leo’s (Cafe Leopold) was attacked, that’s five minutes from where I stay and I go there practically twice or thrice a week for dinner.

Hotels Taj and Oberoi are under siege, there were six or seven blasts in each.

People are still being held hostage there as we speak, several staff and guests are already killed. The Taj and Oberoi were set on fire; the top floor of the Taj is destroyed.

Plus the CST station (the Chatrapati Shivaji Station), again, two to three minutes from my place was bombed, including the JJ school of arts, a couple of hospitals, police head quarters and the domestic airport.

This has been proclaimed to be the worst attack India has seen in recent years, and I was literally in the middle of it.

I mean, our PG is in the centre of all these places – in the west, the station, the east, Oberoi and up north, Colaba, where Leo’s and the Taj are.

I have been getting calls all day and have been up all night watching the news. Please pray that this thing dies down.

Food for thought…

Elements of genetic engineering; Source: Wikipedia

I came across an extremely interesting programme on BBC2, called Horizon.

 

This week, it covered the pros and cons of cultivating Genetically Modified (GM) crops and was presented by scientist-turned-farmer, Jimmy Doherty.

 

GM to the rescue!

 

·         It is a powerful technology that could be used to create crops that produced higher yields, boosting food production.

·         It could create crops that are resistant to drought, preventing famines.

·         The main beneficiaries of GM: farmer’s and seed companies.

·         Scientists believe that a GM disease-resistant tree could protect Uganda’s vital banana crops, which are under attack from a rampant disease, saving people from dying of starvation.

·         GM soya beans have become Argentina’s biggest export, almost single-handedly rescuing the country from economic meltdown.

·         In Pennsylvania, farmers grow a variety of corn that produces its own insecticide.

 

 

 

 Too risky, perhaps?

 

·         Some believe GM to be a dangerously untested science that threatens environmental disaster.

·          Small-scale farmers have been facing a reduction in land size, as GM mega-farms work best when grown on a large scale.

·         Vast areas of natural forests are being cleared for the exact same reason mentioned above.

·         Genetically modified genes may spread into other non-GM crops, as a result of gene-flow. On a large scale, this would imply that no crop would be GM free.

·         The above would be bad news for conventional and organic farmers, who grow crops au natural. There wouldn’t be a choice for people who don’t want to eat GM food.

 

 

Although Doherty did portray a balanced account of events, the programme failed to offer any real answers.

 

What I did gather however, was that research into GM must continue as it could possibly benefit us in the future.

 

It still needs to undergo years and years of testing, before we can remotely begin to comprehend the world of GM.

 

 

 

 

Are you spellbound by Enchanted?

Once your children, especially your little girls have seen this film, they are going to be well and truly captivated.

 

Disney’s Enchanted, immediately transports you into a world where fairy-tale characters come to life, literally.

 

Giselle (Amy Adams) is set to marry the love of her life, Prince Edward (James Marsden). However, the Queen (Susan Sarandon), Edward’s wicked stepmother has no intention of giving up her right to the throne and banishes her would-be daughter-in-law to present-day New York.

 

Naive of the potential dangers lurking around her, Giselle is rescued by Robert (Patrick Dempsey), a hunky divorce lawyer – with a girlfriend, I must add, and his daughter.

 

And yes, you guessed it, they find themselves falling head-over-heels for each other – their past relationships forgotten.

 

Although, what some may find a tad annoying is Giselle’s constant breaking into song and dance right in the middle of Manhattan.

Besides this, the film can do no wrong.

 

So, will Giselle escape the evil Queen’s poison apples? Will she stay in the real world with her newfound love or return to ‘real’ life?

Get ready folks for a night of enchantment, beyond your wildest dreams.

And we call ourselves civilised….

The result of rape: Unwanted pregnancy; Source: Wikipedia

 

 

It was stomach-churning, literally, to read about the incestuous relationship that a father had with his two daughters.

 

According to CNN, the 56-year-old man repeatedly raped his two girls for 27 years, leading to 19 pregnancies.

 

Between the two, there were nine births, five miscarriages and five abortions.

 

But, how he could have got away with it for so long, is beyond incomprehensible and that too, in Britain.

 

The BBC revealed that the father moved the family from village to village in rural locations to keep them isolated and to avoid detection.

 

They were like prisoners, the exception being that they were trapped in their own home.

 

Scared to death

The victims were raped up to three times a week and if they dared to refuse the father’s demands, he would terrorise them.

 

He punched and kicked them, or would hold their heads next to the flames of their gas fire, at times burning their hands and eyes.

 

The assaults would even continue during pregnancies.

 

What I want to know is, where have teachers, neighbours, relatives, social workers, doctors – anyone, who came in contact with the family –  been in the past 27 years?

 

How could such heinous crimes be ignored by so many? It makes you question if the child protection system, in this country, is in fact flawed.