Dancing On Ice
Watch Heather's Dancing on Ice Videos

Cat & Dog Fur Ban

1998

Humane Society of the USA begins investigation

Humane Society International’s (HSI) campaign to ban cat & dog fur began in the late 1990’s. The hard fought often-perilous journey began when HSI received information that cats and dogs were being slaughtered for their fur. At this stage no one had any idea of the massive scale of cruelty they would uncover in China after receiving these early reports of the possibility of animal cruelty.

Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) investigator Rick Swain led a team posing as fur dealers in Asia for 18 months penetrating this industry like no one had ever done before, uncovering the dog and cat fur trade. It was found that a staggering 2 million cats and dogs raised under cruel conditions were skinned alive, strangled or stabbed solely for their furs and skins. Undercover footage brought these harrowing images out of China and were made available to millions of people throughout the world. This vital footage was so horrific it had a massive impact on all that viewed it.

The investigators documented warehouses in China filled to capacity with skins and pelts awaiting shipment to the US, Russia and the EU. Asian merchants were witnessed bragging that they could fraudulently label any item to confuse consumers, dye it to appear as though it was faux fur (or even mink) or not label it at all. This huge battle to save these poor creatures began in earnest. The campaign in America and Europe focused on highlighting the consumer fraud that was being perpetrated on an unsuspecting public through false labeling. Cunning Chinese merchants were disguising dog and cat fur by using names like Gae-Wolf, Sobaki and Asian Jackal and also dyeing this fur to look like faux fur.

The widespread use of cat skins were uncovered and were being sold in Belgium, Germany and Austria in pseudo health aids called rheuma- bandages.