Fur-Free in NYC

Where fur comes from

2009-12-12T19:23:00.000-08:00

Approximately 85% of fur comes from China, where animals including cats and dogs are skinned alive. Please get the facts about fur.

Buh-bye, bloody ShopNBC!

2009-07-11T20:49:00.000-07:00

ShopNBC gets worse every day
The high-end vendors are mostly all gone. Hosts keep getting the axe. SNBC is scooping up the dregs from other networks. On a blog dedicated to all things home shopping, I came across this comment from a former enthusiast of the network:

Anonymous said...: I use to be such a ShopNBC junkie. All the good vendors have pretty much disappeared and the jewelry seems to be K-Mart blue light specials. I bought a pair of earrings from Sonia Bitton (expensive) and the post broke off. Galerie de Bijoux repaired them, but I always thought they were supposed to be really high end. Then I bought a pair of chocolate diamond hoops (not from Sonia) and a few months down the road, one of the diamonds fell out. I called ShopNBC and the warranty had expired. I was admonished for not buying an extended warranty and had to pay for the replacement myself. I think extended warranties are a way of bilking more money out of the consumer. It always intrigues me that vendors can't back their product without the consumer paying for it. Anyway, I guess my point is that ShopNBC has gone down hill; May 19, 2009 11:02 AM

Another description of the dismal downturn at ShopNBC:

Anonymous said...: Used to be such a Shop junkie, too. The quality of merchandise they offer now is an insult to my intelligence and such a far, far cry from the goods they sold years ago.. I don't know how this channel stays on the air. And like another poster, I watch it for comedic value.; May 19, 2009 4:44 PM

And, finally, another viewer listed her complaints of rude customer service, after receiving a "too many items returned" letter. She had a few words for the CEO, including:
"SHOPNBC has no regard for customers."

I can barely contain my happiness, because ShopNBC is notorious for reneging on its public promise to go fur-free. See ya later, ShopNBC! Happily, the evil CEO William Lansing was ousted in October 2008. Next, Rene Aiu was in...and was out seen after! Randy Ronning is said to be the CEO of the moment, but stay tuned. Things come and go so quickly in Minnesota.

Karma is a bitch, isn't it!

Stop the slaughter of baby seals!

2009-03-15T16:40:00.000-07:00

March 15, 2009--demonstration in midtown Manhattan near the office of the Canadian consulate. Demonstration co-sponsored by Friends of Animals and New York City Animal Rights Meetup.

Fur labeling and your right to know

2009-03-01T14:40:00.000-08:00

Consumers have a right to know. Unfortunately, the fur industry is banking on your ignorance. And retailers including Bloomingdale's and Bergdorf Goodman are flouting the law. Get the facts about fur trim and deceptive fur labeling in this video from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). An HSUS undercover investigation a few years ago demonstrated that major retailers were selling items trimmed in fur from the raccoon dog from China, a major exporter of fur destined for the United States and a place of horrific torture of fur-bearing animals. Raccoon dogs often are skinned alive.

Compassion is the fashion!

2008-12-23T19:21:00.000-08:00

One more holiday windows anti-fur protest! PLEASE COME OUT!

When: Sunday, December 28, 2-4 p.m.
Where: Lord and Taylor, 424 5th Ave. (by 38th St.), New York
Sponsored by Caring Activists Against Fur

Another day of fur haggery

2008-12-22T19:35:00.000-08:00

Check out this matronly fur hag! She's wearing the whole fur farm! Draped head to toe in the skins of fur-bearing animals that were killed by the cruelest methods imaginable: being skinned alive, or anally and orally electrocuted, or having pesticide injected straight into their hearts. Even though this woman is short of stout and, dare I say "dumpy," this coat is about and getup represents many dozens of murdered animals.
December 20, 2008

Fur hags

2008-12-22T19:26:00.001-08:00

Out and about: December 20, 2008
Ever notice this about those women who are draped in the skins of animals that were anally electrocuted or skinned alive: These dames are BIG and MEAN-LOOKING! Shaped like a refrigerator!
And, it's as if they took the face-lift money and sprang for a deeply psychotic look!

It is deeply psychotic to wear fur

2008-12-10T20:22:00.000-08:00

Watch "Leave My Coat Alone," from YouTube member androclestipster and set to the music of "I Am the Owner of This Coat" by Maria Daines/Paul Killington.

Armani tortures rabbits

2008-11-30T16:14:00.000-08:00

Armani puts greed above morals. As you can see in this gruesome undercover video, rabbit fur is obtained in the most cruel way imaginable, on Chinese fur farms. What is worse is that Giorgio Armani reneged on his previous fur-free pledge. Warning: Extremely graphic!

PETA undercover video narrated by Gillian Anderson. Learn more

Poor Connie Kunkle

2008-10-10T18:05:00.001-07:00

A very Photoshopped Connie Kunkle, tart of the upper Midwest
That trashy looking little tart Connie Kunkle is selling fur on ShopNBC this evening. God, the woman is pathetic. Tough as a 50-cent steak. Kind of like Sarah Palin. A redneck through and through, but yacking on about New York, Madison Avenue, blah blah. I'm blushing, it is so embarrassing.

I wonder if she knows that the animals are skinned alive for their fur.

Zac Posen tortures animals

2008-09-13T06:06:00.000-07:00

Zac Posen's bloody and torturous ways got some serious attention on Thursday night at Bryant Park. Passersby and fashionistas wannabes who were there for the show stopped to watch gruesome video of a dog being skinned alive for his fur. The crowd ebbed and flowed, and things picked up when the runway show was over and the attendees spilled out on the sidewalk. We were there to greet them with some reality about how fur is obtained.

A stunning finale to Fashion Week. It opened some people's eyes to the suffering of fur-bearing animals.
Photo courtesy of Santos, NYCAnimalRights.com

Redneck gal shoots for the White House

2008-09-01T06:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks, John McCain, for insulting the intelligence of women everywhere.
I would vote for a cockroach-bedbug ticket over this.

Blethering from China

2008-08-24T19:57:00.001-07:00

Does that wimp Bob Costas ever shut up??? Thank goodness that spectacle is over.

Animal cruelty in the name of fashion

2008-08-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

Along with bloody ShopNBC, there are some fashion designers who have distinguished themselves with their greed and cruelty. They will surely have spots in the Hall of Shame. Donna Karan has decided that making money is more important than keeping its promise to not use fur; it uses slaughtered rabbits. Carolina Herrera kills ewes and their unborn lambs, who die kicking and suffocating in their dying mother's womb, and uses their skins in the name of fashion. The bloody butcher of Madison Avenue, Dennis Basso, caters to a morally bankrupt clientele who get off on wearing the skins of murdered animals (I wonder how the greedy butchers get all that blood out?) Custo Barcelona and Zac Posen have made a commitment to animal suffering. I hope they get plenty of negative attention at Fashion Week!

Bloody fall fashion

2008-08-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

Fashion Week is almost upon us, and some of the bloodiest barbers of the fur industry will be showing at their gaudy freak shows! See you there! It's always good for a laugh to see so many extreme facelifts, as my friend Santos has commented.
Photo courtesy of Santos; 2008

They will pay for their cruelty--one day

2008-08-16T04:59:00.000-07:00

Cedric and Norma Jean Kirchner are the faces behind the bloody business of fur on ShopNBC. They came out of retirement after 40 years in the unspeakably cruel fur industry to create this line of animal skins. They call them "fun little luxuries," but the reality is very different. Torture such as being skinned alive just isn't luxurious.

Meanwhile, poor Norma Jean looks like quite the fur hag. She thinks she looks good, though.
Get a glimpse into the bloody and shockingly inhumane fur industry
This morning, it is the shrill and squeaky-voiced Kimberly Wells who must parade the dead animal skins and promote them to middle America as a luxury. What a bloody lie.

Sarah Anderson, fur whore

2008-08-15T20:23:00.000-07:00

Sarah Anderson of ShopNBC is a beautiful woman, but by all indications she has a cold, black heart. Or else, she is simply ignorant. It may be that she doesn't know about the horrors of the fur farms from which Cedric gets his animal skins. Sarah may not understand about genital and anal electrocution rods, drowning, insecticide injections directly into a fur-bearing animal's heart, or raccoon dogs being smashed to the ground as part of a torturous death. If she does know anything about how fur is obtained, then we should all say a prayer for her soul.

At any rate, she looked like a hooker tonight on ShopNBC, the network that is notorious for reneging on its fur-free pledge. Her show tonight was pure trash, and it was sad to see the duping of the gullible viewing audience.

Oh gawd she is calling the animal skins "cute" and "adorable." The irony.
Learn more about the cruelty of the fur industry
See what Martha Stewart says about fur
Send a message to ShopNBC and protest its cruelty and deceit

Games in the land of torture

2008-08-08T18:15:00.001-07:00

How diabolical are the Olympic opening ceremonies in Beijing, and how stupid the NBC "news" people look pandering to the spectacle. The color commentator (that twit Bob Costas?) is blethering about the significance of the show, the people's hope for reconciliation of humans and everything in nature...[take a break while I puke]. Not to mention, the costliest opening ceremony ever. Why not spend some of that money on people and animals and creation? STOP SKINNING DOGS AND CATS ALIVE FOR FUR!! It is truly evil.
Note to poor Matt Lauer: [Ralph] "Lauren" is pronounced like the girl's name. Since the games are all about entertainment, let's get that straight.

Retailers are going fur-free!

2008-07-28T09:50:00.001-07:00

An important milestone...and more to come
The Humane Society of the United States has important news about its Fur-Free Designer and Retailer List. It has hit the 100-mark, with the recent addition of Overstock.com, and not long before, BCBG went fur-free. Great news!
Check this list often and make informed purchasing decisions.
Say no to ShopNBC, one of the more bloody purveyors of cruelty. It's even more despicable for the fraud it perpetrated on its customers, by reneging on its fur-free pledge. On the other hand, HSN just went fur-free!

Bloody ShopNBC murders animals

2008-07-28T09:23:00.001-07:00

ShopNBC is once again selling its bloody fur from China, profiting on people's ignorance. How much do you know about truth in advertising when it comes to fur? Do you know that China is the world's leading exporter of fur, and do you know that most of it comes from dogs and cats that have been skinned alive for their pelts? Do you know where the murderous Cedric's Luxe collection "comes from"?

For God's sake, even Simon Cowell speaks out against fur. ShopNBC, however, reneged on its fur-free pledge and hasn't looked back, duping middle America into charging their "fur" on a credit card with an APR that is pushing 30%! Cruelty on top of cruelty!
Martha Stewart has renounced fur. So have Marc Bouwer, Todd Oldham, Jay McCarroll, Charlize Theron, Elizabeth Berkley, Christy Turlington, Eva Mendes, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Dennis Rodman, and the list goes on and on and is growing. One day soon, it's going to look pretty damn stupid to be caught dead wearing fur. If you wear fur, I am fairly certain that you do not know how it was "obtained." Don't you owe it to yourself to make an informed decision?

Greedy merchants, ignorant consumers

2008-07-27T17:44:00.001-07:00

Well, it's July 27, and I saw a fur "stole" in a window on E. 57th Street today. The death merchants are gearing up for another season of greed. They trade is built on blood money.

Boycott China Database Needs YOU

2008-03-16T09:16:00.000-07:00

Like everyone else these days, bloody ShopNBC is so cheap that its jewelry vendors are having their pieces manufactured in China. Bad tactical decision, as I told them an employee over the phone. High-end lines, too: Carlo Viani, Passport to Fine Jewelry.

Now, I understand that gold topped out at $1000 an ounce last week. Not my problem. It's in times like these that the "designers" sell us on airy, ethereal circle designs--less gold required.

Do I really want my Carlo Viani piece to come from China? Certainly not. Do I plan to tune to NBC to watch the Olympic games from China? Of course not. Like millions of others.

Be an instrument of change.
Boycott China database -- interactive clearinghouse for listing products NOT made in China

The Horrors of the Fur Industry

2008-03-10T19:29:00.001-07:00

This disturbing image below graphically illustrates the cruelty with which fur is obtained. I think it has impact, because many people are unaware of the treatment of fur-bearing animals--particularly in China. This photo shows the poor animal being killed by electrocution rods, which generally are inserted anally or genitally as well as orally. This torture is the price of a fur coat. Oh, and China has no qualms about using dogs and cats--warehouses full of dog and cat fur have been shown on national network television. Much of this fur is mislabeled, and sent to the United States. China exports torture and is the world's leading producer of fur. It kills 40 million animals for their fur every year.

Charla Rines of ShopNBC

2008-02-23T11:20:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, Charla Rines was with Manuela and saying something about wanting "not to look like a hag," or some such. Note: she was wearing fur.

Today, she is on showing The Find handbags--made of calf hair, excessive amounts of leather, and finished with mink oil.

It's too disgusting.

Catalysts for Change

2008-02-23T09:20:00.000-08:00

It's difficult to walk around in February and see evidence of the carnage. A book called Animal Rites: Liturgies of Animal Care by Andrew Linzey offers some inspired truths and remind us to be courageous and hopeful and catalysts for change.

Merciful God
we are made in your image
but we have made gods of ourselves;
we have turned your creatures
into things and machines,

making them objects of our sport
using them for our vanity,
exploiting them for our greed
and stealing their lives;

but you are the liberating God
who can transform
even ourselves;
help us to turn from
our evil
and embrace
the vision
of your peaceable
kingdom:

They shall not hurt nor destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full
of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
(Isaiah. 11:9, RSV)

Musings on Libby Floyd and Linguistics

2008-02-05T20:06:00.002-08:00

If I had a dollar for every time Libby Floyd of ShopNBC said "and you get this home for a hunnerd bucks..." or even the word "bucks." Or the word "classy." Is that a word, and if so, who says it?

Not sure...is "classy" some kind of variation of "classic"? It reminds me of a phrase my father relayed to me from his Navy days: "She's a tough as a 50-cent steak."

Where Fur Comes From

2008-02-05T19:44:00.001-08:00

The Washington Post gets it right in this story by Philip Rucker. Make sure you know the facts about fur and fur trim.

Of interest, an executive for Saks Fifth Avenue is quoted by Mr. Rucker as saying that the store removed a Burberry jacket from its Web site after an investigation revealed that the coat was made of dog fur, and not "faux" fur as labeled. Laboratory testing had revealed in 2006 that Saks and other retailers were selling items made of fur from the raccoon dog.

The status of Saks' sale of mislabeled dog fur remains to be confirmed.

The Post story discusses legislation introduced in Maryland that would end the mislabeling of fur. (Published Feb. 5, 2008)

Read more about real fur being sold as faux fur and the Humane Society investigation that revealed this.

...and Justice for All

2008-02-02T10:01:00.001-08:00

New York anti-fur activists, take heart! This story will restore your faith in the cause, and it came about thanks to the persistence of your West Coast counterparts. Schumacher Furs in Portland, Ore., was ordered by a court to pay PETA more than $40,000 for fees incurred in what was described as a frivolous lawsuit. The store, which closed its doors in 2007, had foolishly blamed demonstrators for the demise of the business. The silly store also failed to understand the concept of free speech but got a civics lesson in the bargain.

Photo courtesy of Greenisthenewred/Creative Commons. The sign was placed in the window of Schumacher Furs during a lawful protest against the cruelty of the fur industry.

Read more about this anti-fur victory on The PETA Files blog
Read the laughable accusations made by Schumacher Furs

Editor's Note: Lordy. When did schools stop teaching civics?

ShopNBC: Cruelty and Deceit

2008-01-05T09:21:00.000-08:00

Yes, the dreadful fur situation in NYC is the focus of this blog. However, ShopNBC (which has strong connections to Gotham), will be a well-chronicled topic because of this network's shameless cruelty and deceipt. The high-end shopping network earned this attention by reneging on its fur-free promise. Under the leadership of CEO William Lansing, ShopNBC now happily sells fur from China, no less. All in the name of greed, cruelty, and deceit! Get ready to be exposed, ShopNBC!

Mr. Lansing, you are about to get your 15 minutes of fame!
ShopNBC must be feeling the heat. The network mostly presents its "Cedric's Luxe Collection" on weekdays, and not during prime-time weekend viewing hours. Truly, the network's gutlessness is vile.