Consumer
Fraud at New York City Fur Salons
New York City fur salons, including those located in Macy's, Bloomingdale's,
Bergdorf Goodman, and Saks Fifth Avenue, have been caught on video
repeatedly lying to customers about how animals are killed to make
fur coats.
In the video, many of the salespeople tell the undercover investigators
that laws protect animals on fur farms, when, in fact, not a single
U.S. law regulates fur farms. Before meeting their fate as parts of
someone’s coat, 3 million foxes, minks, beavers, and other "farmed"
animals are kept in crowded, filthy wire cages. The animals often
develop neurotic behaviors, such as pacing, turning in endless circles,
self-mutilation, and even cannibalism—behaviors documented in
an investigation PETA recently conducted on an Illinois fur farm.
Foxes on this farm lived in filthy conditions, suffering from diseases
and wounds ranging from untreated upper-respiratory illnesses and
cancerous tumors to broken, exposed bones and inner ear infections.
Killing methods commonly used on fur farms range from neck-breaking
and poisoning to anal or genital electrocution. No federal law exists
to protect animals on fur farms: The fur industry remains 100 percent
self-regulated and animals suffer every single day on fur farms across
the United States.
Some fur salon employees state in the video that the practice of trapping
animals is illegal, when, in fact, trapping is legal in 44 states,
and approximately 30 percent of the fur sold in the U.S. comes from
trapped animals. When an animal happens onto a steel-jaw leghold trap,
two bars slam shut on his or her limb (or face, tail, or wing), causing
excruciating pain. Some animals, particularly mothers with young,
chew through their trapped limbs in order to escape. Few traps kill
instantly, and animals may languish for days before a trapper comes
to kill them. Conibear traps are set underwater to drown beavers where
they live. It can take more than several minutes for an animal to
drown in one of these traps.
What You Can Do:
Urge all of the following stores to evict their fur salons on grounds
of consumer fraud.
Harold Kahn
Chairperson
Macy's East
151 West 34th St.
New York, NY 10001
Tel.: 800-264-0069
Mr. Jeffery Sherman
President
Bloomingdales
100 3rd Ave.
New York, NY 10022
Mr. Gerald Sampson
President
Neiman Marcus (parent Company of Bergdorf Goodman)
1618 Main St.
Dallas, TX 75201
Mr. Phillip Miller
Chairperson & CEO
Sak's Fifth Avenue
611 5th Ave.
New York, NY 10020
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