Dear Erica, thank you for your e-mail. Read my comments in green:

Hello,
I am currently working on an essay for a scholarship called "A Voice for Animals" and chose to write it on the cruelty and suffering animals in fur farms are subject to. As an attempt to broaden my horizons and try to get the fully story on the fur industry I ventured onto your sight (sp: "site") that claims the fur industry to be "green".

I applaud your attempts at labelling such a typically gruesome (hardly an objective comment?!) industry with the zest of a more modern issue facing our society. I am not of the knowledge or position to condone such claims, but am of the strong and stead fast opinion that this very minuscule "green" alternative the fur industry provides, in no way makes up for the gruesome (that word again) reality of murder. (when i last looked, "murder" was a word used only to describe killing people, and even then only in certain circumstances. So i suppose you also think that "meat is murder". Just want to understand where you're coming from!)

It is my personal opinion that the ONLY driving force behind the fur industry is greed (a wee bit judgemental, are we?) and the human tendency to be self involved (I was about to say the same about your letter!) Why else would we continue an industry thriving on the murder (that word again!) of living creatures, when it is far from necessary? (Of course, vegans don't think meat is "necessary" either....but 97% of Canadians eat animals every day.) Yes, in the early 1600's pelts were needed for protection and necessity drove the industry, but now, over 400 years later, with more technological advances (like the petroleum-based synthetics PETA wants us all to wear?) than could have been dreamed of, that is no longer the situation. Fashion and money are the sole instigators of the fur industry and all the horrors it entails. I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that in such a modern age, where people are so knowledgeable (uh-huh) , pelts of once living animals are draped around models and "fashionistas" and labelled trendy. These trends brainwash the public into believing such cruelty is acceptable in our society.

Likewise the facade that fur is green imposes a similarly mentality unto society (i am sure there is a point to this rant, coming soon, i am sure) . The thing that irks me is the fact that there is no initiative of the fur industry to be green or help the environment, but rather the exploitation of the growing urge to be environmentally friendly to defend a very controversial industry (i think she means we're just "green-washing" -- but she has still not addressed a single point we make in our website: www.FURisGREEN.com. Wonder if she even read through the site before making all these judgements???) That is by no means an admirable movement, as there is no good intention, only exploitation of both the animals being slaughtered and society’s good-will to preserve the environment.

Thus far I have not addressed the actual animals themselves and their treatment. (actually, you have not addressed anything in our website yet!) First off there are so many "recommendations" or "guidelines" out there for how animals SHOULD be treated but who is to say how they actually ARE treated. Secondly even these so called animal welfare codes are by no means creating an environment free of suffering for these captives. Animals are found in the wild (somehow, the domestication of livestock has escaped your notice?) , there is absolutely no way an animal can lead an enjoyable (??) life in a cage, isolated (if you are referring to farmed mink, they are not "isolated") for approximately a year before being stunned and injected or gassed to death. No matter what "codes" come in to play the reality of this industry remains the same: animals are slaughtered for fashion, their life span is compressed to less than ONE year for fashion, they live their entire life in a metal cage for fashion, have no interaction with fellow species for fashion, and so fourth (sp: "forth") and so fourth (sp -- you really have to work on your grammar and spelling if you want to be an effective social critic!)

Is this the kind of vanity driven society (ooh, "vanity"! we're into Puritan country now!) we want to present to the world? One so focused on fashion and the comparatively small amount of economic cushion this industry provides that the lives of living creatures are so forsaken and overlooked. I am making an appeal to challenge you and all Canadians to seriously consider the mentality of those supporting the fur industry and what approach to social issues it projects. Such a sense of self worth, superiority and dominance, a dab of humbleness never hurt a soul (much unlike the fur industry that harms millions a year). OK -- the only point i can see so far in this semi-incoherent, self-centred rant, is the concern that animals are being killed for suppposedly "unnecessary" reasons. Too bad Erica does not seem to have really read through www.FURisGreen.com, where we address these issues. In a nutshell: why is it worse to farm mink than chickens or pigs? Is meat more "necessary"? Not according to PETA and the militant veggie crowd. Are petro-chemical based synthetics really better for nature than furs taken from the wild or produced on farms in a sustainable way? If she seriously read through our website, Erica would know that farmed mink are fed left-overs from our own food-production system -- the parts of cows and pigs and fish that we don't eat. They recycle "wastes" to produce a warm and beautiful clothing material that lasts for generations. As for killing animals: for better or worse, that's the way our world works. Animals even die to feed vegetarians: millions of rodents and other animals are hacked to death by threshing machines that harvest their grain, or by the pesticides used to protect crops, or to protect grain supplies in the silos. Don't get me wrong: if you want to be a vegetarian and wear plastic shoes, that's your right. Hey, this is a semi-free democracy. But that does not give you the right to impose your personal choices on everyone else as if it were some sort of divine wisdom.

This is a murderous industry based entirely on self satisfaction (murderous; self-satisfaction -- again the moralistic labelling with no serious reasoning) ; there is no argument that could link the fur industry to necessity in this day and age. So please, don't fabricate the reality of fur farms and trapping with socially just titles like being green, at least have the decency to label it accurately. If you wear, support, buy fur you second hand take part in the unnatural, cruel captivation of helpless animals and ultimately lead to their extremely premature demise.

Although only 17, I pride myself on conducting myself on higher standards than flaunting my controversial opinion in public to irritate those who disagree, how's that for being flipped off? (I will excuse your pretentious ranting because you are only 17 and have at least made the effort to write. But please: if you are really interested in discussing these issues, please read our website carefully (we have made an effort to explain our position clearly and accurately), and then try writing again with more concrete discussion points.

Just a last thought, they don't call her CRUELla DEVILle for nothing. (Oh, there's a clever girl. Please, read go to www.FURisGREEN.com and try reading!)

Erica Baxter