Press Clippings

Troops to receive "distinctly Canadian" fur hats
By Ingrid Peritz, Globe and Mail (Canada); Oct. 4, 2011
"The Department of National Defence has decided to add fur to the winter gear of the Canadian Forces, a move that's getting a frosty reception from animal-rights advocates. The government says fur is part of Canada's heritage and the winter tuque currently in use doesn't stand up to the rigours of the Canadian winter."

The fur and the fury
By Harriet Walker, The Independent (UK); Sept. 24, 2011
"Not so long ago, supermodels refused to wear it. But gradually, fur has crept back on to the catwalk - and into celebrity wardrobes. Has public opinion really changed? And can the new welfare regulations appease the animal-rights campaigners?"

New faces, new hopes at fur show
By Eva Friede, Montreal Gazette; May. 5, 2011
"A stuffed muskox stood on the floor of Place Bonaventure this week at the Qiviuk booth, part of the annual NAFFEM fur trade show. The creature drew attention, not only for its bulk and thick, fuzzy coat, but for the wool that is being harvested from the undercoats, a collaboration between Peruvian craftsmanship (think vicuna) and Inuit in the Canadian Arctic."

Fashion's fur lining: Animal pelts enjoyed a roaring trade last year
By Lauren Paxman, Daily Mail (UK); Apr. 6, 2011
"Fur was all over the catwalks in February and March. Kate Moss wore pelts for Louis Vuitton in Paris. Zac Posen, Marc Jacobs, Emanuel Ungaro and many more followed suit. But for once it seems that these fur-loving fashion houses were pursuing a trend rather than setting it as newly released figures of worldwide fur sales in 2010 show that there was 5.4 per cent increase on sales the previous year."

Ready for a touch of the exotic with fur and python?
By Lucie Greene, The Telegraph (UK); Mar. 2, 2011
"More is more on the autumn runways as designers pile on the skins with fur, python and stingray. Has the last taboo in fashion lost the power to shock? We're not even finished with the round of autumn runway shows, but already it's apparent: fur and exotic skins are here to stay. Milan, New York and London catwalks this season have been packed with pythons, furs, minks and foxes, used in ever more inventive ways."

Fur into fashion
By Eva Friede, style editor, Montreal Gazette; Feb. 23, 2011
"When Prabal Gurung showed his funky fur pieces on the runway at New York Fashion Week, there was a lot of legwork and design interpretation that happened in Montreal. Like Christina Nacos, creative director of Natural Furs, running around town seeking just the right lace trim for the lining Gurung had sketched. She found it on St. Hubert St."

Designers get pelted by rising fur prices
By James Covert, New York Post; Feb. 17, 2011
"While soaring cotton prices sap profits across the clothing industry, luxury labels say a dramatic run-up in the price of mink and other fine furs has likewise forced them to scramble to maintain their margins as demand for furry fashions surges worldwide."

No snow is good "fur" business
By Juris Graney, Northern Pen (Newfoundland); Dec. 29, 2010
"Forgetting the ski bunnies and snowmobilers for a second, the lack of snow on the Northern Peninsula so far this winter has been a good thing for trappers."

Fur flying out the doors of resale shops
By Denise Crosby, Courier-News (IL); Dec. 18, 2010
"Cynthia Simik, owner of Deja Vous Designer Resale in Naperville, said she once paid $900 for a lynx coat in perfect condition that had originally sold for $39,000. She carries about a dozen 'higher quality' furs at any given time - that can run anywhere from $100 to more than $2,000, depending on the style and condition."

Is the fur still flying? (Not here, it would seem)
By Malwina Gudowska, Calgary Herald; Dec. 17, 2010
"Amid the heckling, hexing and chanting crowd at this year's CFL Western Conference Final in Calgary were three young Stampeders fans who switched from yelling 'Riders suck' to 'fur is murder' every time the woman in the full-length fur coat walked past. But nobody else took notice."

Old debates about fur continue to rage despite massive fashion comeback
By Katrina Tweedle, Daily Record (Scotland); Dec. 11, 2010
"The WAG is the latest celebrity unashamedly sporting a pelt, following Kate Moss, Lindsay Lohan and Naomi Campbell, who regularly wear fur. But you only have to look at the High Street shops to see that fur is no longer just for the rich and famous. And as the temperatures plunged this week, I pulled out one of my most prized possessions, hidden in the wardrobe like a guilty secret."

Fur makes a controversial comeback
By Amy Verner, Globe and Mail; Nov. 20, 2010
"There was no shortage of eye-popping fashion at the Toronto preview of Lanvin genius Alber Elbaz's stellar capsule collection for H&M this month. Standing out amid all the tulle frocks, one-shouldered cocktail dresses, faux ostrich outerwear, men's bowties and shiny blue oxfords, however, was guest Beverly Creed, who had donned a swingy fur sweater jacket for the occasion."

Fur makes a comeback - with more humane claims
By Samantha Critchell, Associated Press; Nov. 19, 2010
"There may be no item of clothing quite as controversial as the fur. And yet fur is everywhere this season, in ways that designers hope will take some of the edge away from its usual critics."

Nutria fur hits the fashion runways. It's soft, supple and sure to raise some eyebrows
By Susan Langenhennig, Times-Picayune, Nov. 10, 2010
"'Down here, people understand this. But we could get paint thrown on us in New York,' said New Orleans costumer, jewelry maker and flea market maven Cree McCree, discussing the very real possibility of a PETA uprising against her year-old campaign to promote the use of nutria fur in fashion."

Good year in sight for mink breeders
By Chris Lambie, Chronicle Herald (Nova Scotia), Oct. 27, 2010
"Nova Scotia mink farmers are hoping to make a killing this year. A national industry group is reporting recent auction prices are averaging more than $60 a pelt and topping out at $100 for high-quality fur. 'Man alive, that sounds good,' Earl Prime, president of the Nova Scotia Mink Breeders Association, said Tuesday."

Fur: Should you still fake it?
By Julie Carpenter, Daily Express (UK), Oct. 26, 2010
"There was a time when every supermodel worth her salt would 'rather go naked than wear fur' (at least for a photo shoot) and if you ventured out of the house with the merest hint of a mink the wrath of animal rights groups would descend upon you."

Fur prices soar on Asian demand
By Dana Flavelle, Toronto Star, Oct. 26, 2010
"As prices for fur pelts soar, Canada’s fur industry is hoping to reap some of the benefits by striking back at animal rights activists and cheap Chinese imports."

Faux-fur designers bring the real thing in from the cold
By Susie Mesure, The Independent (UK), Oct. 17, 2010
"It has long epitomised fashion with a conscience, the ethical alternative to that mink coat your grandma left in her will. But faux fur risks losing the moral high ground as experts worry that its popularity is driving demand for the real thing, which has emerged as one of this winter's hottest trends."

Fur fervour
By Lucie Greene, Financial Times, Oct. 1, 2010
"It is the most contentious item of clothing on the catwalk, found on everything from shoes to coats to chain necklaces. Fur is back."

Animal Attraction. Fur is back and leather is hotter than ever, but alternatives abound for those looking for faux.
By Maia Filar, Toronto Sun, Sept. 19, 2010
"Fur trading is literally Canada’s oldest profession, but long gone are the days of coonskin hats and beaver coats. Fur is now the ultimate symbol of wealth and success – some might say excess - and it just so happens to be one of fall’s hottest trends."

Furry fashion back in style.
By Daile Pepper, Sydney Morning Herald, May 12, 2010
"Fur is back in fashion. The number of luxury labels across the world using faux and real fur to create their autumn/winter collections is huge and now a Perth fashion label’s real fur creations are flying off the racks."

Style file: Wonder fur.
By Suzanne Wexler and Eva Friede, Montreal Gazette, May 11, 2010
"The story of fur for the past decade or so has been one of innovation and reinvention. Furs are now knitted, sheared, beaded, inset with patterns, imprinted and come in coats, hats, wraps and other objects of many colours."

Sealing industry fights back with "fur re-invented".
By Jane George, Nunatsiaq News, CanWest News Service, May 6, 2010
"As she watched a towering, rail-thin model strut down the runway at the Montreal fur show, Rosie Audlakiak of Qikiqtarjuaq felt like a star. The model wore a form-fitting red sealskin vest, decorated with a pale fox and tiny tufts of raccoon, with little else, exposing her navel as she walked down the runway in front of hundreds of fur buyers at the May 3 show."

Fur industry starting to rebound.
By Mike King, Montreal Gazette, May 4, 2010
"The country's fur industry is enjoying a warm and fuzzy feeling after the cooling effects of the latest recession. Last year 'was a very bad year for luxury products, but the energy is back in our trade and there's renewal,' said Alan Herscovici, executive vice-president of the Fur Council of Canada."

Fur: The winning fashion investment for all.
INFUR Online, Apr. 20, 2010
"As a result of global economic turmoil over the past few years, consumer purchasing behaviour has changed significantly. 'Throw away' fashion has fallen out of favour and investment fashion now prevails. There are three rules consumers look to when investing in fashion: versatility, longevity and maximizing impact."

Fur popular among the younger set.
By Emili Vesilind, Los Angeles Times, Mar. 28, 2010
"Listening to anti-fur activists, it's easy to assume that fur in fashion is, as the ad campaign goes, dead. … But even a cursory glance at the fashion industry reveals that fur is still, for many, a hot commodity."

Designers embrace fur despite animal rights concerns.
By Debra Black, Toronto Star, Mar. 18, 2010
"Despite the recession and the animal rights movement, fur is once more returning to the fashion runways of both Europe and North America."

Fashion feels fur's warm embrace.
By Eric Wilson, New York Times, Mar. 10, 2010
"Last month, Johnny Weir, the United States figure skater, switched one of his costumes for the Vancouver Olympics after he said he received threats from anti-fur activists for accessorizing his already colorful wardrobe with just a touch of white fox. At almost the same moment, fashion designers in New York were showing fall collections with so much fur that they seemed to collectively stick a thumb in the eye of political correctness."

Fur sure: In Stoughton [Wisconsin], pelts are king.
By Mike Johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Mar. 6, 2010
"It might seem surprising that Stoughton, a city of about 12,000 south of Madison, is at the crossroads of the world fur trade. It makes perfect sense to Michael Mengar, president and chief executive of North American Fur Auctions."

Coming to a store near you: long hems, lots of fur.
By Adrianne Pasquarelli, Crain's New York Business, Feb. 21, 2010
"The hemlines came down for New York Fashion Week, which concluded last Thursday, as designers ditched the cheerful miniskirts of seasons past in favor of more comfortable looks and somber colors for fall 2010."

Designers take refuge in warmer fabrics.
By Christina Binkley, The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 16, 2010
"This winter's unexpectedly cold weather has done more than raise (mistaken) doubts about global warming in some corners. It appears to have inspired several New York designers to turn back to heavier, warmer fabrics for the collections they plan to sell in the fall. … In fact, after nearly disappearing during the height of the recession, the warmest material of all - fur - is making a high-profile comeback ..."

Fur makes a comeback at NY Fashion Week.
By Samantha Critchell, Associated Press, Feb. 13, 2010
"Fur made a comeback Saturday at New York Fashion Week. There were more fur coats on the runways of Peter Som, Prabal Gurung and Adam by Adam Lippes than in recent seasons. Alexander Wang had a cool leather trenchcoat with a strip of mink running entirely down the back."

Environmental advocates promote nutria fur as a fashionable way to help protect the wetlands.
By Susan Langenhennig, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans), Jan. 18, 2010
"The long fur vest in Oscar de la Renta's fall/winter collection is the type of garment you'd see lounging in a chalet in St. Moritz, or on the streets of Paris heading to lunch at Taillevent. It exudes warmth and disposable income. Dyed dark black, the vest is one of 23 fur pieces in de la Renta's fall lineup and the only one made of nutria."

Why fur is fashionable again. Recent subzero temperatures have brought a flood of fur onto the streets. Are attitudes changing toward the trade?
By Justine Picardie, The Telegraph (UK), Jan. 17, 2010
"As temperatures dropped last month and the snow kept falling, I started noticing fur coats in my neighbourhood, the politically correct north London suburb of Crouch End. This is a place with an independently owned organic shop that still flourishes next to Waitrose, where campaigners wave petitions for Greenpeace and against factory farming, and a large population of foxes are sufficiently confident of their welcome to saunter across my road in daylight."

China gives Canada its approval of seal.
By Bill Schiller, Toronto Star, Jan. 13, 2010
"The fur didn't fly here Tuesday. Instead, it strode down a Beijing catwalk without interruption. The Canadian seal and fur industry brought its fashion designs to a premier Beijing fashion show yesterday, winning warm applause. Had this been Europe there might have been cans of red paint hurled, incendiary banners held aloft, and outraged protest."

Cold weather and growing sales mock death of fur.
By Eva Lamppu, Reuters, Jan. 12, 2010
"In a warehouse outside of Helsinki hundreds of buyers gathered to bid in a three-day auction of mink, fox and other furs just before Christmas. Any worries about the ailing global economy, the threat of global warming, or the fading popularity of fur as fashion were firmly left outside to chill in the snow."

The plight of the green fashionista.
By Joanna Weiss, Boston Globe; Dec. 19, 2009
"It began with the gift of a vintage rabbit fur coat. Not for me; for my friend. Really, my friend. Who was faced with a modern-day fashion dilemma."

Trappers cheer on Imrie. Fur flies over Canadian biathlete's sponsor.
By Keith Bradford, Calgary Herald; Oct. 18, 2009
"Megan Imrie could point to the Maple Leaf stitched into her Olympic apparel. She could drape a Canadian flag over her shoulders. But when it comes to conveying what it would mean to represent Canada at Vancouver 2010, the Canmore-based biathlete would rather show off her own symbol of national pride - a fur hat."

Inside the Peltway. With a new administration, fur is in fashion in Washington.
By Amy Chozick, Wall Street Journal; Mar. 6, 2009
"Fashions here change with each administration. Ronald Reagan ushered in an affinity for dark blue Brooks Brothers suits, and during George W. Bush's tenure, the town embraced cowboy boots. With the Obama administration, fur is flying. Residents are sporting mink jackets, shaking the mothballs off their chinchilla coats and pulling sable stoles out of storage. Sales of fur are up, too, some Washington retailers say."

Minks give their all fur Wisconsin ranchers.
By Meg Jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Feb. 21, 2009
"Wisconsin farmers always worry about weather. But for one small group of agricultural producers, a cold winter in Russia is great for business. It also helps if it snows a lot in China. Mink ranchers in Wisconsin, the nation's No. 1 mink producer, are wrapping up a week in Toronto for the important North American Fur Auction. The pelts are destined for hats and coats that will keep folks warm in Moscow, Beijing and New York."

Slowing economy pelts the global fur business.
By Lauren Etter, Wall Street Journal; Feb. 12, 2009
"As the credit crisis ripples around the globe, more consumers are postponing extravagant purchases like mink coats and chinchilla stoles, squeezing the global fur business. 'This current economic downturn is broader and deeper' than earlier ones, says Joseph E. Morelli, the chief executive at American Legend Cooperative, a mink-producing cooperative and pelt auction house based in Seattle."

Hair of the dog that licked you; Fur isn't cruel if it comes from Fido's coat.
By Erin Kobayashi, Toronto Star; Feb. 6, 2009
"The image of fur splattered with red paint has long represented the view of animal rights activists who blast fur as cruel and harmful to the environment. But the Fur Council of Canada is trying to paint a different picture: a green one. Its million-dollar 'Fur is Green' and 'Beautifully Canadian' campaign makes the argument that nothing is better for the environment than the real thing."

Fur and against. Liz Hurley is back in the headlines for advertising it. But fur is part of our heritage.
By AA Gill, Sunday Times (UK); Dec. 7, 2008
"I don’t know exactly what Eve wore for modesty and warmth, or what Adam put on for flash and protection, but I can tell you that it wasn’t a fig leaf. Our most distant ancestors came through the Ice Age without their bits going black with frostbite because they wore second-hand skin. Fur."

Making the case that wearing fur can be eco-friendly.
By Hollie Shaw, Calgary Herald (Canada); Dec. 5, 2008
"Contrarian advertising can work well if it attracts the right kind of attention. Or the wrong kind of attention. Marketers say merely getting consumers to notice your message is half the battle in a competitive and cluttered field of advertisements, tunes, logos and images -- and a campaign that challenges widespread attitudes or beliefs can do that effectively."

Nothing to fear but fur itself.
By Nathalie Atkinson, National Post (Canada); Oct. 31, 2008
"Henri Bendel recently went fur-free. There isn't a rabbit-trimmed toque or mink bagatelle to be found at the Fifth Avenue department store. The decision was the initiative of Bendel's parent company, Limited Brands, making the $10-billion company entirely fur-free. ... Yet, by all accounts, fur is inching its way back on to runways. A quick scan of recently realized prices on mink from recent North American Fur Auctions, the largest vendor of raw fur pelts on this continent, shows that sales are at record levels and fetching the highest prices ever."

Marketing campaign urges buyers to warm up to fur.
Canwest News Service; Oct. 25, 2008
"MONTREAL: Local fur fashions are flying into more international markets via a new branding and marketing initiative jointly co-ordinated by the Fur Council of Canada and the Canadian Fur Trade Development Institute."

Can fur be sold as eco-friendly? Portlander to find out.
By Scott Learn, The Oregonian; Sept. 18, 2008
"In 2004, Chrys Hutchings, her husband and their three young children spent a year in New Zealand, home to about 4.2 million people - and about 60 million Australian brushtail possums. Hutchings's kiwi sabbatical included plenty of talk about the ecological havoc imposed by possums, which exploded in numbers after would-be fur traders introduced them to New Zealand in the 1800s."

Can wearing fur be guilt-free?
By Sanjida O'Connell, The Independent (UK); Sept. 18, 2008
"It sounds like the latest fashion oxymoron: ecological fur. A Japanese designer and furrier, Chie Imai, has called her autumn 2008 collection of fur-trimmed capes and boleros Eco Harmony. Yet the trim isn't faux-fur but chinchilla and mink. And although Imai's Royal Chie jackets command a hefty price - £6,000 for a mink bolero; £42,000 for a chinchilla cape - the rest of the garment is polyester. Less Primark and more Madison Avenue, though, this is no ordinary polyester but comes from clothes recycled in Japan. 'Tying ecology with fur is such a fascinating concept,' purrs Imai."

Designer Mariouche turns controversial fur green.
By Delia Montgomery, for Green Options Media; Aug. 30, 2008
"Time for fall/winter fashions and when it comes to staying warm in freezing temperatures, the eco-minded public feels left in the cold by more than the weather. There aren’t many choices beyond synthetics. So what’s the solution?"

"Ecological fur" hits the runway.
By Yuri Kageyama, Associated Press; May 16, 2008
"Basking in the runway spotlight at a Tokyo fashion show Monday was a cape of lowly polyester sewn with chinchilla, billed as an 'ecological fur'."

Fur, fabulous fur takes centre stage. To thrive in a chillier economic climate, the industry is focusing on ultra-luxury goods.
By Eva Friede, Montreal Gazette; May 6, 2008
"There's nothing like the fur business, says Andre Ferber: 'You buy a couple of dozen pieces and it's a half million dollars.' Ferber, of Philadelphia's Jacques Ferber furriers and chairman of the Fur Information Council of America, was holding forth at the annual gala fashion show at Le Windsor, part of last week's Naffem trade show, the largest showcase of fur, leather and shearlings in North America."

Fur: sustainable resource or fashion faux pas? CBC News.
CBC News; Mar. 20, 2008
"After facing decades of criticism, Canada's fur industry is the latest group to tout itself as being green. Fur is biodegradable, durable and supports trappers who have a stake in protecting the environment, according to the Fur Council of Canada."

Industry pushes "green" fur coats
By Tom Reilly, The Age (Australia); Mar. 9, 2008
"After decades as the pariah of the fashion industry, fur is fighting back - with claims it is one of the most environmentally friendly clothing materials that exist. Fur is renewable, non-polluting, biodegradable and energy efficient, and wearing fur will protect the planet's precious ecosystem, say producers. ..."

Fur is alive and kicking, despite campaigns
By John Ruwitch, Reuters; Mar. 3, 2008
"Anti-fur campaigners have tried everything from impassioned appeals to pet lovers, gruesome videos, name-and-shame campaigns and adverts featuring nude stars proclaiming they'd rather go naked than sport a pelt. But despite their best efforts, wrapping up in fur is a trend that has failed to go away. ..."

Can you wear fur with a clear conscience?
By Stephanie Rafanelli, Daily Mail (UK); Feb. 18, 2008
"Day three of Milan Fashion Week, and the international style press hold their double espresso-scented breath as the most luxurious Italian houses - Versace, Fendi, Prada, Bottega Veneta and Gucci - unveil their winter collections for 2008/2009. Whether hemlines drop from midi to maxi or acid colours re-fade to black, one theme is a dead cert: the lavish, ubiquitous and unapologetic use of fur."

Fur industry seeks to trap a green image
By Eva Friede, Montreal Gazette; Jan. 29, 2008
"When Alan Herscovici talks about fur being green, he's certainly not thinking of Yves Saint Laurent's iconic square-shouldered jacket of 1971. The Fur Council of Canada's executive vice-president has been touting the environmental benefits and sustainability of using fur since the mid-'80s ..."

Climate change cure is warm and fuzzy
By Janet Albrechtsen, The Australian; Jan. 9, 2008
"I am starting to warm to this whole climate change business. Arrived in Vancouver for a night just before 2007 drew to a close. With barely a few hours remaining before the stores closed, I raced out and bought a fur coat. A long coat cascading down to my ankles, light as a feather and as warm as a ... well ... fur. ..."

Price of mink nears record but ethical row over fur trade continues
By Suzy Jagger, The Times; Dec. 31, 2007
"At the Copenhagen fur auction three weeks ago, Danish was hardly spoken. While the auctions are conducted in English, the dominant languages among the 300 or so fur traders, brokers and manufacturers assembled to bid for mink pelts, sable and chinchilla are Mandarin and Russian. ..."

No end in sight for Russian love affair with fur
By Amie Ferris-Rotman, Reuters Life!; Nov. 30, 2007
"Under the leaden, snow-filled sky of the notorious Moscow winter, commuters rush to work, their heels teetering on ice, and almost every woman - and a few men - wear fur. ..."

Adventures in the skin trade. Fur is one of the world's oldest businesses. Today it's a thriving global network
By Helen Coster, Forbes.com; Nov. 26, 2007
"Months before an animal fur appears on the head of a Russian oil baron or as a chin-caressing collar on a Manhattan socialite, it makes a global journey that may include a stop in a nondescript warehouse in Toronto. ..."

Hot fuzz
By Leanne Delap, Globe and Mail; Nov. 17, 2007
"Swaths of Toronto's old shmatte district have been taken over by loft developments and club kids. And Spadina is for tourists. But on a wee stretch of Adelaide Street, centred around Zuppa's Deli, are the old-school New Yawk-style furriers ..."

Bountiful, beautiful fur
By Hollie Shaw, National Post; Oct. 15, 2007
"With imports from China flooding the international market, Canada's fur industry is marketing itself with a new 'Beautifully Canadian' label to promote the quality and ecological values behind the nation's independent trappers, designers and fur retailers. ..."

Getting Real: Like it or not, fur is back - even in Florida
By Audrey Parente, Daytona Beach News-Journal; Sept. 10, 2007
"'Furs? In Florida? 'People always ask that,' replies Steve Baker of Daytona Beach, whose fur storage vault at Brooke Custom Cleaners is chock full. ..."

Mink twice: A coat's next life
By Ann Geracimos, Washington Times; May 16, 2007
"'Think Restyle' blazed across a poster in a window at Gartenhaus in Chevy Chase not long ago. The retailer, whose primary business is selling new fur apparel, was advertising a service many consumers don't know exists. In addition to cleaning, repairing and storing precious furs, a number of local specialty retailers and department stores can take old styles and create up-to-date looks. ..."

Moscow cool to anti-fur plea. Animal rights groups speak of cruelty; wearers point to temperature
By Michael Mainville, San Francisco Chronicle; Feb. 11, 2007
"Every winter, when the snow begins to fall and the air turns bitter cold, Russian women reach into their closets and pull out their cherished fur coats. Some may have only one, bought after years of scrimping. Others may have closets brimming with mink, sable and white fox. But each considers the fur coat essential, as much a status symbol as protection from her country's brutal winters. ..."

The skin trade war
By Karen Mazurkewich, Globe and Mail, Canada; Mar. 17, 2007
"Thousands of pelts dangle from racks in the hangar-like building near Toronto's Pearson Airport where Don Boyd has come to seek his fortune. A second-generation mink rancher from Manitoba, he has hauled the cream of his crop to the sprawling offices of North American Fur Auctions, and keeps a close eye on the electronic board that tracks bids in what amounts to a global fur bazaar. ..."

What's all the fuzz about? Status, of course
By Robin Givhan, Washington Post; Mar. 16, 2007
"In the ongoing battle between the fashion industry and anti-fur activists, the last few weeks have been especially busy. ..."

Sold Out: Love and death in the fur industry
By Marjorie Skinner, Portland Mercury; Mar. 8, 2007
"This paper has been kicking up a lot of animal-related controversy lately. After slaughtering and eating a sheep this past January, we caused such a hullabaloo of a dialogue that you'd think we invented the concept of humans using animals for food all by ourselves. That's not something I want to necessarily reprise, but I do think it's symptomatic of an interesting, broader trend in the attitude of consumers. ..."

FASHION WEEK: Fur is a must-have item on the runways of New York
By Samantha Critchell, Associated Press; Feb. 8, 2007
"It used to be that fur was an almost unattainable luxury, reserved for the wealthiest women, who would then cherish their mink coats for many, many years. But on the runways of New York Fashion Week, fur has turned into a must-have item for fall ..."

Fur flying as mink prices rise. Profits up for farmers in fur resurgence
CBC News (Canada); Dec. 27, 2006
"A demand for fur by a growing middle class in Russia and China, and a return of fur in Western fashions, have led to record prices for mink pelts."

Back in style: The fur trade
By Kate Galbraith, New York Times; Dec. 24, 2006
"Tom DeLisle, sporting thigh-high waders, squishes through mud and cattails surrounding a pond near Albany, looking for wayward beavers that might have wandered into one of his underwater traps. Alas, his instant-kill traps, baited with Backbreaker castor oil, are empty. But Mr. DeLisle plans to keep trapping all winter ..."

Trap it, skin it, go global
By Chris Niskanen, Pioneer Press; Dec. 13, 2006
"Teenager Dylan Monroe skinned a muskrat in his parents' garage in White Bear Lake on Sunday, unaware he was the beneficiary of changes in the global economy."

Are we gradually warming to fur?
By Vanessa Friedman, The Financial Times (UK); Nov. 17, 2006
"I can accept the idea that Koreans, like Russians and other Slavs, have a more intimate relationship with fur than the rest of us given their climate issues, but it increasingly seems to me that the rest of us are catching up. I looked furtively around Claridges ... Right in the heart of the most anti-fur country left on earth, I counted at least six mink/rabbit/fox coats or accessories: a good third of the room."

Danish fur house sales reach records as rich Chinese buy minks
By Tasneem Brogger, Bloomberg; Nov. 10, 2006
"Kopenhagen Fur, the world's biggest auction house for furs costing as much as $35,000, is posting record sales as China's new rich snap up minks and chinchillas."

Fighting the return of fur
By Hadley Freeman, The Guardian (UK); Sept. 18, 2006
"In a self-consciously retro ice-cream parlour in north London, the designer Sadie Frost, clad in a simple chiffon dress and cardigan, ponders her new role as nude anti-fur warrior. She blushes a little when talking about a photograph taken of her for a new anti-fur campaign, saying, with a nervous tug on her cardigan: 'Hopefully people won't be too repulsed by it'."

Fur back in business and in trouble
By Craig Welch, Seattle Times; Aug. 20, 2006
"In a drab conference room in a nondescript Renton warehouse last spring, an auctioneer took a podium beneath huge photos of supermodels in mink coats and fur lingerie. He turned on his microphone and began soliciting bids."

Mink producers make most of their time in spotlight
By Eric LaRose, Sheboygan Press (Wisconsin); July 13, 2006
"Sarah Becks, 5, of Cedar Grove rubbed the end of her new pencil on the apple of her cheek Wednesday afternoon in the Family Farm Adventure tent at the 2006 Farm Technology Days."

Fur trade has sights set on global growth
By Ashoke Dasgupta, Business Edge (Ontario); April 27, 2006
"The fur industry in Canada has seen ups and downs, but in spite of being pelted, the industry is still alive and kicking. ... From fashion design to garment production, the industry generates a turnover of about $800 million annually, a boon to about 60,000 Canadian trappers and 2,000 ranchers."

Fur turns trendy as eco-label appeals
By Lynn Moore, The Gazette (Montreal); February 21, 2006
"A hot global economy and the marketing of fur as a cool 'eco-fabric' are feeding Canada's fur trade, according to the Fur Council of Canada."

Consumers Warm Up to Fur Again
By P.J. Harston, London Free Press (Ontario); February 21, 2006
"Pamela Anderson and her friends at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals will not be amused - but I am. In a world filled with the wonders of technology, one of Canada's original and historic industries, the fur trade, is experiencing an unprecedented resurgence."

Pelt Appeal
By Rob Walker, New York Times magazine; February 12, 2006
"It is easy these days to find evidence that consumers are more concerned than ever about ethics: there are constituencies for environmentally friendly products, Fair Trade products, products that support anything from cancer research to Vermont dairy farming. Yet even as the profile of the concerned consumer has risen, so has something else: fur sales."

Why I'm a Foxy Lady. Want to look beautiful, feel great and make friends in the process? Just slip on your fur coat.
By Mary Kenny, The Guardian (UK); January 19, 2006
"There is no garment quite as beautiful as a fur coat. Or, indeed, as warm. I do not mean the horrid and peculiarly decadent 'gorilla' coat that Pete Burns was seen wearing on Celebrity Big Brother, and for which he was reprimanded by a minister: although any minister (it was Jim Knight) spending time watching this drivel is seriously underemployed."

Fur's Stigma, Its Allure Remain. Faux may be fashionable, but designers defy protests with new twists on real thing
By Penelope Carrington, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Virginia; December 18, 2005
"Fur's stigma remains, as does its allure. Just how much is arguable depending on one's position. The shift, however, is in the impact those positions have had on the fashion industry over time."

(x)Fur Is Flying Off Shelves as a New Mark of Cool
By Lisa Marr for The Hamilton Spectator, Ontario; December 13, 2005
"It's not the rabbit fur of the '60s or the big brushed pelts of the '70s and '80s. But fur is back. Just look at Canadian actor William Shatner."

Like It or Not, Fur Is Here to Stay
By Melissa Whitworth, The Telegraph (UK); December 7, 2005
"On my way to a swanky party in New York a few weeks ago, I pulled up in a yellow taxi and stepped out. Three large bouncers dressed in black immediately surrounded me, holding out huge, opened umbrellas as shields. ... It was only later that I realised what the fuss was about. It was my late grandmother's fur jacket, which I often wear in New York, that had caused the bouncers to panic."

Fur Flies Off Rack with Stigma on Wane
By Stephanie Mansfield, The Washington Times; December 5, 2005
"Last Christmas, Kathleen Kelly, a stylish blond Washington financial analyst, finally treated herself to a longed-for luxury: a floor-length mink coat with fox trim. 'I wanted a fur for a long time,' she says. 'I'm 32. I bought it as a present to myself and I love it. I wear it with jeans. It's fun'."

Is Fur No Longer Dead? Retailers report fur has found its way into mainstream fashion and the closets of younger women
Roanoke Times, Virginia; November 25, 2005
"Tiffany Dobbs pulled on a short black coat made of beaver. She hugged it to her, posing in front of a long mirror at Henri Kessler Furs & Outerwear in downtown Roanoke. 'This, I love,' said the 24-year-old graduate student at High Point University in North Carolina."

Fur the Love of Being Seen. Canadian furs are out of the closet. Cropped, cinched or tie-dyed, this is not your mother's mink
By Barbara Righton for Macleans; November 21, 2005
"All of a sudden, after two decades of political correctness and minimalism in fashion, fur is officially out of the closet and on every runway from Vancouver to Milan. But the new fur jackets and accessories look nothing like your mother's bear-sized mink."

Men In Fur: The look is rugged city
Globe & Mail, Canada; November 19, 2005
"Dear Ms. Pamela Anderson, I know you are a staunch supporter of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (posing naked for PETA ads is pretty staunch), but I am writing today to ask if you could see your way clear to granting me the A-okay to wear fur."

Winter's Here: Time to break out the fur
Galveston Daily News, Texas; November 6, 2005
"Now that we can pretend that winter is almost upon us, it’s time to start talking about winter coats. The biggest trend this year in outerwear is fur."

Fur: the all-season Italian must.
International Herald Tribune; October 2, 2005
"Down on the southeastern tip of Italy is a town called Bari where the winters are mild, the sun shines predictably over the Adriatic Sea, and the well-clad women have no qualms about trotting about town swathed, and often sweating, in their newest fur coat."

A lady's first fur: Which should I choose - a coat or my husband?
By Nancy Chilton, New York Observer; August 28, 2005
"Last fall, I wrote a big check at the J. Mendel sample sale and left with a new Russian sable jacket. My emotional state felt vaguely familiar: the initial attraction, the decision to commit, the pure physical pleasure, the brief afterglow ... the guilt."

Young Fur. Celeb-luxury, passing trend or rebellion? Fall fashion redraws the battleground.
TheTyee.ca, Vancouver; Gazette; July 6, 2005
"A few years ago, fur was unthinkable for both designers and ordinary folk. Now, it appeals to the hearts and wallets of young people who sport fur on everything from hats to jackets, to t-shirts. It's been in style for a few seasons now, and fashions this fall will see even more of it."

Fur is back - and in a big way
CNN; February 11, 2005
"Not only is it showing up in hip- hop videos and on the backs of celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce Knowles, but furry fashions also appeared on numerous runways during New York's Fashion Week."

Haute couture for classic fur. Zuki Internationale does to pelts what was once considered unthinkable
Montreal Gazette; February 7, 2005
"Every day, Betty Balaila comes to work in the same building her father toiled away in for three decades. Built in the early 1950s, the green-tiled walls in the corridors hint of another era. In many ways, the work done here has not changed since then. In other ways, it has been completely reinvented."

It's fur without fear on New York fashion runways
Reuters; February 7, 2005
"Fur is back and prominently displayed by top designers this week on New York's fashion runways, with nary a peep of protest."

Fox appeal. The fur industry shakes off recent past to surge in popularity
Portland Tribune (Oregon); February 4, 2005
"Greg Schumacher, fourth-generation owner of Portland’s Schumacher Fur Co., hasn’t seen anything like it in his 30 years in the business."

(x)Sleek seal is fashion's "in" skin : Body-conscious buyers drive price of pelty to record high
National Post; January 4, 2005
"Boosted by softening attitudes toward the seal hunt and renewed international trade, seal pelt prices are breaking records as consumers discover sealskin is soft, tough -- and exceptionally slimming."

Fur with a more fashionable attitude
Korea Herald; December 28, 2004
"This winter saw a renaissance of fur as more and more designers had fun with the luxurious, if not extravagant, material: from trims and cuffs to floor sweeping coats."

Luxury fur sales surge to record
China Daily News; December 27, 2004
"Mitch Reily, a retired medical researcher, was so impressed with the latest styles of fur coats that he recently bought two. 'People look at you and say, "Look at that!"' said Reily after buying the coats at Richard-Donald Furs Inc in Wilmington, Delaware. 'It's well accepted now. Years ago, people frowned at you.'"

Nunavut flips over jump in seal price. Pelts set record at auction this month
Canadian Press; December 27, 2004
"If prices for sealskins stay as high as they have been lately, Pitseolak Alainga may have to buy a bigger dining room table. 'If I bring in more seals, I bring in more family,' says the hunter from Iqaluit, Nunavut, who's just back from the seal grounds on the edge of Frobisher Bay's floe ice."

Fur industry sees rosy future as fashion faux-pas turns must-have
Agence France-Presse; December 27, 2004
"For years considered a fashion no-no, fur is making a hearty comeback to the runway, turning up in haute-couture designs and on the backs of top-name celebrities, much to the chagrin of animal rights activists."

For the haute, a hunt for fur; Fashion-conscious trappers hope to cash in on pelts
Washington Post; November 16, 2004
"The forces behind trapping's resurgence are as far-flung as New York clothing designers, the nouveau riche in China and hip-hop stars with chinchilla tastes. Their high-fashion choices have trickled down to the backwoods of the East Coast, where people such as Larry Kline are seeing higher prices for one of North America's longest-traded commodities."

Fur real or fur fake? Either way, fashion is going fuzzy
Associated Press; November 11, 2004
"Fur is no longer a status symbol that only the rich and famous can afford, and faux fur is no longer an ugly alternative worn only by social protesters."

Fur takes chill out of winter TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE
Montreal Gazette; November 9, 2004
"Fur, in all its fuzzy glory, is a hot way to accessorize this season. On and off the runway, our animal instincts are taking over."

Classic furs, styled for youth
Washington Post; October 29, 2004
"While there are those who see a fur coat as an example of man's cruelty to animals, there are others for whom a ranch mink coat will always be a reminder of their mother dolled up for a big evening out or their grandmother wearing her Sunday best."

Back In Style : Retro styles, technological advances spark new interest in fur
Las Vegas Review-Journal; October 25, 2004
"Remember the days when fur fans left their coats in storage rather than risk an encounter with a spray-paint-wielding attacker? How things have changed. Vault doors are clanging open across the country. Fur is back - and in a big way."

Fashionable furs: Real and faux - fur enjoys status as a fashion trend
Associated Press; October 24, 2004
"Fur is no longer a status symbol that only the rich and famous can afford, and faux fur is no longer an ugly alternative worn only by social protesters. Both are part of a larger trend: fur - real or fake - as fashion."

Real fur is fun again
Newsweek; October 11, 2004
"It's less expensive and more popular than ever. But as young people snuggle up, where are the protesters?"

Fur starts to fly. Sales are booming despite years of lobbying by the anti-fur brigade (subscription)
Sydney Morning Herald; October 4, 2004
"Fur sales are booming despite years of lobbying by the anti-fur brigade. Mink is on the march, fox is on the hunt, and rabbit is hopping onto backs all over the world. Fur has come back in fashion with such force that it's hard to find a catwalk in Europe without at least a trimming of fur."

Fur? Sure! Once controversial fashion is back (subscription)
Oakland Tribune (California); September 27, 2004
"Remember that ad campaign: 'I'd rather go naked than wear fur?' Flash back to 1995, when the fashion tide was turning against fur. Supermodels Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington were appearing nude on billboards to show their anti-fur sentiments. But that was then. Pick up any fashion magazine today, and the pages are full of photo spreads extolling fur as one of the must-have accessories for fall."

Seal skin fashion to boost Canada's fur trade
BBC News; May 5, 2004
"A young girl strides down the catwalk wearing a blue seal skin biker jacket worth 3,000 Canadian dollars (£1,230). Welcome to the 22nd North American Fur and Fashion Exposition (Naffem) in Montreal."

Love the Skin You're In
Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); March 6, 2004
"The war against fur in fashion has been lost. Fur has been back on the high fashion catwalks for a couple of years - in Milan, it never entirely went away - and it has started to reappear on fashion spreads in a wide range of magazines."

Fur Flies as Designers Court Controversy
The Scotsman (UK); February 24, 2004
"Fur is undoubtedly the most controversial element of the world of fashion. At once it is heralded as the ultimate in luxury and elegance, an essential item for the dignified lady’s wardrobe, and scorned as the most appalling display of pointless animal cruelty."

(x)It's Safe to Wear Fur Once More : Animal-rights folk have lost the ability to intimidate
Sondra Gotlieb for the National Post (Canada); February 21, 2004
"It's February, it's cold and I'm thinking it might be nice to have a warm fur coat when I walk the dog. She's got one, so why shouldn't I? Not too long ago, women were afraid to wear anything furry in case they were doused with red paint by PETA, the animal-rights people. ... but, for whatever reason, they have lost the power to intimidate."

Rabbit Redux: A Once-Lowly Fur Finds New Luster
Sally Beatty for the Wall Street Journal; January 27, 2004
"Long the poor country cousin of chic mink, the lowly rabbit is suddenly growing more fashionable. This season, London designer Alexander McQueen chose rabbit to construct his best-selling $2,000 bomber jacket covered with metallic sequins. Dress designer Diane von Furstenberg used rabbit to make a snowy white $1,750 cropped jacket."

Fur's Hot Again, as Animal-Rights Message Skips a Generation
Wendy Navratil for the Chicago Tribune; January 21, 2004
"A funny thing happened even before the polar ice cap dropped on our doorstep: After more than a decade of giving fur the cold shoulder, young fashionistas cozied up to it."

(x)Fur Fervor
Salt Lake Tribune; February 23, 2003
"Spanish Fork mink rancher Paul Westwood sat quietly studying the catalog at American Legend's fur auction as his lot numbers started to come up on the sales floor. Westwood peered through the eight glass panels separating the viewing gallery from the throng of fur buyers in the adjoining room, then waited anxiously for the auctioneer to bark out a price and rap his gavel."

Fur Fashion's Animal Magnetism; Pelts are hot again, thanks to Scandinavian marketers
Business Week; February 17, 2003
"Bitter cold in New York City. Frosty chills in Paris. Snowdrifts in Tokyo. Deep winter - the season that's perfect for fur. Not your grandma's ankle-length mink, mind you - the kind big enough to double as a tent on the plains of Mongolia. What's really hot is fur in hot colors or mixed with fabrics. How about a candy-pink mink coat from Givenchy? Or a Jean Paul Gaultier black mink and chiffon kilt?"

Warm wraps beat bad rap as fur flies again
USA Today; February 13, 2003
"Fur is back - again. Maybe it's because rich people are getting tax cuts. Maybe it's because everyone is tired of being lectured about the evils of fur. Or maybe because it's too darn cold."

Fur Is Flying Off the Racks - and Cold Weather Isn't the Only Factor
Boston Globe; January 23, 2003
Michelle Peters of Medfield, freshly tanned from a Florida getaway, was dashing out of South Station yesterday morning in a mink swing coat, one of two furs she owns. ''I got it out of storage yesterday,'' she said, clutching the fur close to her body as frigid air turned her words into puffs of steam. ''I'm missing my fur hat.''

Fashion Industry Driving Wyoming Fur Trade
Associated Press; January 12, 2003
Wyoming's fur trapping industry is experiencing a revival thanks to an upsurge in the use of furs in international fashion design. As a result, more residents are becoming interested in fur trapping - good news for the fur industry, but bad news for animal rights activists.

Hot Times for Fur; Once in Hiding, Furs Now Are Flying Out of the Closet in Nearly Every Imaginable Color and Form
Seattle Post-Intelligencer; December 23, 2002

(x)Boom in Fur Sales Boost Demand, Prices for Wild Game Pelts
Anchorage Daily News; December 9, 2002
With fur sales strong and fur prices rising, Akiachak trapper Brian Latham has every reason to be smiling about his season - if only winter would begin.

PETA Accused of Promoting 'Eco-Disaster' With Fake Furs
CNSNews; November 21, 2002
Fur manufacturers, feeling the wrath of animal rights activists, have labeled alternative fake furs an "eco-disaster," and accused the group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), of hypocrisy.

Fur That's Not Your Mother's Coat
Associated Press, by Samantha Critchell; December 27, 2001
If "luxury" is out, how come big, pouffy Russian-style fur hats and even elaborate, brightly hued fur coats are all over city streets and mall parking lots? Maybe it's because fur is warm. Maybe it's because fur - or faux fur, depending on your preference and budget - has become fashion forward. Maybe it's because it stands up to any weather you throw at it.

(x)Faux or No? (PDF format)
Denver Post; November 15, 2001
Fashion fans will notice a surge in fur and shearling coats, jackets, accessories and trims this year. Thanks to manufacturing innovations, these pelts have become easier for designers to work with and for consumers to wear. The trickle-down effect means there is also an abundance of faux fur, shearling and leather styles showing in stores.

(x)Use Activism, Not Vandalism, to Aid Environment
Newsday (New York); September 7, 2001
At its core, environmentalism is supposed to be about nonviolence, a commitment to protect our fragile Earth and its inhabitants from harm. So the vandalism of a shadowy group called Earth Liberation Front makes no sense.

Environment Inc. (five-part series by Tom Knudson)
Sacramento Bee; April 22-26, 2001
Part 1: Fat of the Land; Movement's Prosperity Comes at a High Price A century after John Muir served as the Sierra Club's first president, environmental groups have successfully traded on his legacy, becoming bigger and richer than ever before. But in their quest for power and money, have they cashed in their tradition?
Part 2: Green Machine; Mission Adrift in a Frenzy of Fund-Raising When you give $20 to an environmental organization, you expect it to go toward protecting the environment. But creative accounting hides the myriad ways groups can fold a hefty chunk of that donation back into their fund raising and bureaucracy.
Part 3: Litigation Central; A Flood of Costly Lawsuits Raises Questions About Motive Suing the government has long been one of the environmental movement's most important tools. But today, the targets and proliferation of environmental lawsuits are yielding an uncertain bounty for the land.
Part 4: Playing With Fire; Spin on Science Puts National Treasure at Risk Scientists say Western forests are gigantic tinderboxes inviting disaster, badly in need of thinning. But many environmental organizations are ignoring -- and sometimes manipulating -- that message.
Part 5: Seeds of Change; Solutions Sprouting from Grass-Roots Efforts A new kind of conservation is blossoming at the grass roots that focuses on results, not rhetoric. Its goals include buying, protecting and restoring land, and making commerce and conservation work together -- without crying wolf.

Eco-Terrorist Group Prolific : The Earth Liberation Front's attacks rack up extensive damages
The Oregonian; January 11, 2001
A familiar cast of state and federal arson investigators tromped through the smoldering ruins of a lumber company building in Glendale last week. They quickly declared that at least two fires swept through Superior Lumber Co.'s administrative offices Jan. 2 -- a telltale clue this was no accident.. ...

(x)PeTA's Zeal Pushes the Envelope Too Far for Some
Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Virginia); December 3, 2000
For 20 years, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has waged a brutal war in the name of kindness.
It champions the welfare of animals with a flinty, take-no-prisoners strategy that has alienated a growing group of humans. Among them are the likely cast of hunters, meatpackers, dairymen, furriers and animal researchers. Perhaps more surprisingly, the list also includes fellow animal advocates, some of them former PETA employees, who complain of a zealous culture that has little tolerance for the squeamish.

(x)Make Mine Mink - and Sable and Fox : Fur Is Flying in This Boom Boom Economy
Journal News (New York); June 10, 2000
In a Manhattan penthouse loft high above the Hudson River, waiters decked out in crisp white shirts weave through the crowd dispensing flutes of champagne. Clusters of mannequins draped in cold-weather finery circle the window-walled loft. A dozen of New York's most exquisite models mill through the crowd. They pause to flaunt their fashions, posing for a gaggle of eager photographers. It's that time of year again, when the Fur Information Council of America struts its stuff for the fall/winter season. And this year, the council is presenting a fashion show with a message: This is not your grandmother's mink coat. ...

(x)Attempt to Ban Fur Farming May Go to European Court
The Financial Times (London); May 15, 2000
Britain risks prosecution in the European Court of Justice after five European countries objected to the government's plans to ban fur farming. France, Spain, Italy, Denmark and Finland claim the legislation to outlaw fur farming breaches European Union law. The European Commission will make a decision next month, and could then take Britain to the European Court. Despite the threat of legal action, the government has decided to proceed with the fur farming (prohibition) bill. ...

The PR Problems of Canada's "Other" Seal Hunt : The Inuit, who depend on seals for food, seek a market for the skins
Christian Science Monitor; May 1, 2000
Ever since the first contact with "the West," going back to early European explorers like Martin Frobisher in the 1570s, the question for the Inuit has been, "What can we sell to the world?" As dependent on imports as ever, the people of the new Canadian territory of Nunavut, in the eastern Arctic, are asking the same question today. But one of the potentially most promising answers - expanding the sealskin trade - is entangled in the international politics of hunting. ...

Alliance Faces Opponent : Animal-Rights Groups
The Oregonian; February 27, 2000
A coalition of people whose livelihoods depend on animals will meet in Portland next weekend to draw up a strategy against animal-rights extremists who have targeted -- and sometimes terrorized -- their enterprises. Members of the National Animal Interest Alliance -- a Portland organization representing the interests of cattle ranchers, biomedical researchers, dog breeders, rodeo cowboys, circus handlers, hunters, fur trappers, sealers and others -- will meet next Saturday and Sunday to combat well-funded animal-rights campaigns. ...

(x)Despite Controversy, Fur Farming Rather Mundane
Post-Bulletin (Rochester, Wisconsin); February 5, 2000
Few people understand the allure of mink fur like Jim Galazen. "It is such a beautiful product," said Galazen, owner of Kersten's Furs in downtown Rochester. "It is so beautiful and designers can do so many things with it." But behind the glamorous world of mink fashions is a fur industry terrorized by animal rights groups. ...

(x)Making A Living Out of Mink
Post-Bulletin (Rochester, Wisconsin); February 5, 2000
Scott Stevens loves animals. "I'm proud of what I do," the Rochester area mink farmer said. "I love raising the animals and caring for them. It's very difficult, but very rewarding, like any farming." Stevens, a second-generation fur farmer, took over the family farm several years ago. "It's all I know," said Stevens, co-owner of Zumbro River Fur Farm. "I grew up on the farm and learned everything I know here." ...

(x)Fur or Faux : Despite Controversy, Popularity on Rise
Times Union (New York); Jan. 29, 2000
Light and dark, sheared and long hair, jackets and coats: Furs drape over the ivory couch and weigh down the backs of the modern dining room chairs in Andrea Mayone's impeccable town house in Troy. Mayone, 38, dressed in jeans, a long-sleeved, dark purple turtleneck and stylish black boots, proudly displays her fur collection as her two Norwich Terriers dance around her feet. She loves her furs, and she's not alone: Fur, in the form of coats, jackets, wraps, accessories, trim and more, has made a comeback, hitting the runways and closets of many women (and, in this country, almost solely women) this winter. ...

(x)PeTA Members Protest Springfield Furrier
State Journal-Register (Illinois); Jan. 22, 2000
A brown paper bag isn't the typical headwear that accompanies a full-length fur coat, but animal-rights supporters say that display outside a Springfield furrier Friday was a statement against animal cruelty, not a fashion statement. Two members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals spent the lunch hour quietly protesting the killing of animals for clothing as they stood on the corner of Fifth and Washington streets, near the entrance to Max Karpman Furs. ...

(x)Greenland Pushing for Seal Fur Exports; Environmentalists Maintain Opposition
Dallas Morning News.(Texas); Dec. 22, 1999
Illulissat, Greenland - Salik Hans used to be a hunter. He never made much money selling the fur from the seals he and his family ate, but it was enough to buy groceries at the local government store in Illulissat, 250 miles north of the Arctic Circle in western Greenland. Today, Mr. Hans and other hunters from the settlement stand around smoking next to their battered taxis, waiting to take wealthy tourists from cruise ships to watch the sun set over the icebergs. "I prefer hunting, but the outside world didn't give me a choice," he said. ...

(x)Animal Activist Denies Charges : ALF Spokesman David Barbarash Says Officials Are Trying to Discredit Him
Sheboygan Press (Wisconsin); Oct. 10, 1999
George Kalmon, president of the Wisconsin Mink Association, says attacks by animal rights groups are becoming more violent and dangerous. A release of 2,000 animals at a Plymouth-area mink ranch and burning of a nearby mink feed plant in Sheboygan County in August are not among the most violent examples. After those incidents, nine miles apart and within an hour of each other, the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) took credit. ...

(x)Farmers Rally for Safe Farms
The Country Today (Wisconsin); Sept. 1, 1999
Plymouth, Wisconsin: Against a backdrop of the burned-out United Feeds mill across the street, more than 100 farmers participated August 26 in a Safe Farms Support Rally. The rally was intended to show support for U.S. farmers in their efforts to ensure safe farms, said Teresa Platt, Coronado, Calif., Executive director of Fur Commission USA, an organization of more than 600 fox and mink farming operations. "In California we are seeing things like cattle getting shot and fences cut. And this is not unusual with sabotage against ranchers," she said. ...

(x)Mink Ranchers Appeal for Help
The Country Today (Wisconsin); Sept. 1, 1999
Plymouth, Wisconsin: Several dozen mink ranchers from the Midwest appealed to the Wisconsin Assembly Agriculture Committee August 26 for help in combating terrorism on their farms when animal rights proponents let animals loose. "We no longer feel free to leave our place any time of the day," said George Kalmon, Medford. The Taylor County mink rancher represented the 60-member Northern Mink Club. "You can't go to church on Sunday without thinking somebody is bringing your place down," he said. ...

(x)Wisconsin Mink Farmers to Improve Security Measures After Vandalism
Wisconsin State Journal; Aug. 10, 1999
Wisconsin mink farmers and research labs are stepping up security following vandalism at two mink ranches and a possible arson fire. "It's scary because somebody is going to get hurt," said Jerry Krieger, co-owner of Krieger's Fur Farm in Bristol. ...

(x)Stiffer Laws for Releasing Animals Sought
Daily Press (Michigan); July 20, 1999
Escanaba, Michigan: While Spalding Township residents Tom and Carol Pipkorn struggle to rebuild their mink farming business, the federal and some state governments are considering legislation to toughen penalties for releasing domesticated animals. The Pipkorns were the victims of what supporters call a terrorist attack on Oct. 26, 1998. Members of a group called the Earth Liberation Front, a sister group of the Animal Liberation Front, released 5,000 of the Pipkorn's mink. ...

(x)Animal Rights Activists Have Lost Perspective
Calgary Herald; July 15, 1999
The tributes came pouring in in the wake of Stampede chuckwagon driver Bill McEwen's death - but so did the tackiness. The day after McEwen died of his injuries at the Foothills Hospital, Calgary animal rights activist Michael Alvarez-Toye had a comment to make. ''Animal abuse is not entertaining,'' he grumbled to reporters, referring to the horse which had to be destroyed as a result of the crash. ...

In Beverly Hills, Fur Is Flying Over Truth-in-Slaughtering Label
Hearst Newspapers; February 11, 1999
WASHINGTON -- There's a lot of political silliness in this world, and not all of it is in the nation's capital. Some of it is in Beverly Hills, the sophisticated playground of the rich, famous and spoiled Rodeo Drive shoppers. The beautiful people there who sit on the City Council recently approved a truth-in-slaughtering initiative that would attach labels to fur coats describing the possible murderous methods by which the pelts might have been obtained. ...

(x)Fur Labels Aren't Needed
Ventura County Star (California); Feb. 8, 1999
The problems of Beverly Hills and its residents who buy $10,000 fur coats at exclusive Rodeo Drive salons normally wouldn't concern us, but stupid ideas have to start somewhere. A celebrity studded group of animal rights activists has succeeded in putting on the ballot for a May 11 referendum a requirement that furs sold in Beverly Hills bear a warning label: "Consumer notice: This product is made with fur from animals that may have been killed by electrocution, gassing, neck-breaking, poisoning, clubbing, stomping or drowning ..."

(x)Fur Flies As City's Name Is 'Used'; This Is A Grievous Type of Fraud
Beverly Hills Courier (California); Feb. 5, 1999
This week's City Council meeting, with the spat over a ballot initiative that would force furriers to put contested consumer-notice tags on fur products, spotlights a horrendous threat to this community. ...

(x)Trappers Are Ones in Box
Syndicated columnist Fred LeBrun; Feb. 2, 1999
From time to time over the course of my journalistic career I have been urged to drop dead. Such directives go with the territory in the opinion business, and strange as it seems, I don't take any of it personally. It's just a figure of speech. Until I get letters and phone calls from the rabid anti-trapping crowd, and then I begin to wonder. ...

(x)Sensitivity to Cold Might Be Affliction: Raynaud's Phenomenon
San Diego Union Tribune; Jan. 11, 1999
Most times, there's no reason to back down from a cold front, or at least what passes for one in the mild seasons of San Diego. But in air that's cold enough to bleach your breath, you may encounter another phenomenon that gives a new meaning to chilling out: fingers that stiffen, cramp or tingle (maybe even all three) in the cold. Call it polar paralysis, San Diego style. ...

(x)The Return of Fur : Once Near Fashion Extinction, It Is Roaming Runways Again
Orlando Sentinel (Florida); Jan. 7, 1999
Finally, we're having a snap of fur-coat weather in Central Florida. For the first time in years, the weather is cold enough and the political climate warm enough to make wearing fur a comfortable choice. After almost a decade of being branded politically incorrect, fur is back in fashion. ...

(x)Terror on the Beasts' Behalf
USA Today; Nov. 12, 1998
Attacks in the name of animal rights are on the rise across the country, according to both the animal activists who commit such acts and those whom they target. Raids on fur, leather and meat businesses have grown in the last few years, say those in the businesses, while raids on laboratories have fallen as labs have tightened security. ...

Warming Up To Fur : Recently the most reviled of materials, fur is the fashion set's newest plaything
Time Magazine; October 19, 1998
One evening last month, in the barn of a farm in Bellville, Ohio, about a dozen fox farmers stood around, hands in belts, watching a video. On the screen, a bevy of thin, gorgeous, haughty women strode down the catwalk, all wearing something furry. It was a compilation of high-fashion shows from Milan, and while the farmers were more bemused than impressed, that tape may represent their best hope for a lucrative future. ...

(x)Health Check: Get Warm Fur Winter and Don't Be a Dumb Animal
The Independent (UK); Oct. 13, 1998
It was one of the most celebrated images of the Eighties - a supermodel dragging a fur coat across the floor leaving a trail of blood. Underneath, the slogan: "It takes 40 dumb animals to make a coat but only one to wear it." For the anti-fur pressure group, Lynx, aided by the photographer David Bailey, the campaign was a spectacular success. ... But while it saved the members of one dumb species, it now looks as if it may have cost the lives of another. ...

Britain's Mink Mayhem - Thousands of the furry little creatures are suddenly set free, and residents reach for their shotguns
Time Magazine; Aug. 24, 1998
By the time Dan Phillips reached the barn with his shotgun, the mink had already seized one of his prized silver-lace chickens in a death grip. Phillips maneuvered for a clear shot and dispatched the mink with a single blast. "He seemed liked a nice little fellow before I shot him," says Phillips in a kindly tone. ...

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