discontinuation of all fur sales, because of the suffering, brutality, and death involved in the industry

-- Please, before signing, have a look on that short movie :
http://www.peta.org/swf/fur_farm.swf

The Petition of the undersigned protests in the strongest possible terms against the live-export of animals.
During transportation the animals are subjected to inhumane conditions resulting in unacceptably high death rates and suffering. Upon arrival, they suffer extreme cruelty and barbarism prior to and during slaughter.
Your petitioners call upon the members of the Senate to immediately, and without delay, ban the live export.
We believe that the trapping, raising and killing of animals for their fur is inhumane and should be stopped. There exist many alternatives to fur, from synthetic materials to organic, leaving no justifiable excuse for the continued brutal trade in animals killed for their pelts.

The ugly reality of the fur trade:
- Each year more then 2 million domestic dogs and cats are brutally killed for their fur in China, Thailand and the Philippines. Products made from this pain and suffering are sold in the United States. It is widely known that dog and cat fur has permeated the US fur trim market. Because of deliberate mislabeling by the fur merchants, none of us knows if the fur products sold in your stores come from rabbits, coyote, or from dogs and cats.
- Fur ranchers inbreed animals to develop mutant fur color phases. This has led to genetic defects including white mink that are deaf and pastel mink with nervous disorders.
- Many fur farms will feed the corpses of the skinned animals back to the live animals to save on feed costs. This sort of forced cannibalism was banned in the cattle industry because it was believed to cause Mad Cow disease.
- Ferrets are raised on fur farms in Europe. Studies show that as many as 2/3 of the ferrets on fur farms come down with disease as a result of the poor living conditions.
- 31 million animals are raised and killed on fur farms each year. Mink account for 26 million, fox 4.1 million. Chinchillas, raccoon dogs, fitch and sable make up for most of the other ranch raised furbearers.
- Mink are usually killed by gassing, breaking their neck or poison injection. Most foxes are killed by anal electrocution, while chinchilla breeders recommend either neck breaking or genital electrocution.
- Mink and fox are genetically wild animals that are not adapted to a life in captivity. Whereas a wild mink would range a territory that is approximately 3 square kilometers in size, a ranch raised mink is confined to a cage that is 12 inches wide by 18 inches long.
- The intensive confinement leads to self mutilation, cannibalism, and a high level stress which breaks down the animals immune systems.
- Leghold traps are commonly used by fur trappers. Many animals chew off their own limbs in desperate attempts at escape. This is especially common with raccoons. A 1980 study found that as many as 1 out of every 4 raccoons caught in a leghold trap would chew his/her foot off to escape.
- 10 million animals are trapped for their fur each year. Approximately two non-target animals are caught for every one furbearing animal. These non-target animals include squirrels, opossums, dogs, cats, and even endangered species and birds of prey that are attracted to baited sets.

We are appalled that your department stores continue to sell fur despite years of protests. You know the facts and you know that the reason these animals are slaughtered is purely for financial gain. We ask that you do the right thing, and stop selling animal fur products.

We, the undersigned, urge the discontinuation of all fur sales, because of the suffering, brutality, and death involved in the industry, and the cruel fact that the victims involved have now even been shown to include cats and dogs.

Dogs and cats are internationally considered pets, with few exceptions, and trust us to protect and care for them, yet each year more than 2 million domestic dogs and cats are brutally killed for their fur. The products of this pain and suffering are sold right here in the United States and Europe.

Dog and cat fur has permeated the fur trim market. Nobody can really know if the fur products sold in your store comes from coyotes or rabbits, or from dogs or cats. Labels simply do not disclose what kind of fur is used. And dog fur may be mixed with coyote fur on the trim of the same parka.

We must suspect that any piece of fur could be dog or cat fur, regardless of what the manufacturer claims. The most ethical and humane stand is to not sell ANY fur whether it is cat, dog, rabbit, coyote, fox, or any unfortunate animal.

In order to make fur coats, animals are electrocuted, gassed, or have their necks broken in captivity; they are trapped, drowned, or bludgeoned to death in the wild. They are kept in abominable conditions, killed inhumanely, and suffer terribly. There is no regard for the fact that they are living, feeling creatures with a right to live their lives free of torture & murder, or even to die a humane death!

In this day and age of beautiful and useful synthetics, there is no reason to use the fur of animals to keep warm. It is not a fashion statement for people to wear another creature's skin. A true appreciation of the beauty of an animal's fur would be imitation. To torture and kill animals for their skins is a throwback to the caveman days, and even then animals were not bred and kept in horrible conditions for their fur, but killed as needed in a quick manner!

We respectfully urge the discontinuation of the sale of all fur in all stores, including fur trim, fur decorations, and fur toys. We also vow to refuse to spend our hard-earned dollars in any store that sells fur products.

Thank you for your time and consideration and we hope we may once again shop in your store in the near future.