Retailers are going fur-free!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)