HOST: Peaceful viewers, on today’s Stop Animal Cruelty program we’ll explore the utterly inhumane, abusive treatment of our innocent animal friends on fur farms.

The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, also known as the Old Testament of the Holy Bible, describes in the Book of Genesis the creation of animals and their relationship with humans as follows: "The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’ Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky.”

The development of human civilization is inseparable from the selfless assistance of our animal co-inhabitants. Buffalos have plowed our fields, horses have provided us with transport, and many other beings of the land, ocean and sky color our world through their vibrant, majestic presence.

On some, the Creator has bestowed warm fur for protection against the weather and to bless them with a noble appearance. Sadly, however, humanity in its greed steals these protective coats to produce jackets, boots, hats, cushions, furniture, toys and other items.

In fact, fur unfortunately never completely disappeared from shops. There were ups and downs, but in the last three years, there is a resurgence and it has become more and more accessible; that is to say it became less expensive.

And unfortunately, it means more animals will be massacred for a fashion that is fleeting and totally unimportant.

HOST: Statistics from the US-based animal welfare group Humane Society International paint a bleak picture of the current situation, as each year over eight-million animals are caught by fur trappers and at least 30 million are raised and heartlessly killed on industrial farms to supply producers of so-called fur fashions.
To make a single meter-long fur coat, 200 chinchillas, 100 squirrels, 60 minks, 40 sables, 30 raccoons, 20 foxes or eight seals had to suffer slow, horrendous deaths.

Even dogs, cats and rabbits are not spared. To escape public outrage, furs from bred or stolen companion animals are often intentionally mislabeled as other types of pelts.
http://www.hsi.org.au/?catID=68