The extent to which dog and cat fur products are for sale in U.S. stores cannot be known. Before the passage of the Dog and Cat Protection Act of 2000, investigators found jackets with fur labeled "Mongolia dog fur" in a major retailer with stores across the country. Many other fur-trimmed items look and feel like the cat and dog fur investigators saw in factories in China and at retailers and other companies in Europe.

The problem is that it's not easy—and in some cases impossible—to identify many fur items. Each year millions of animal fur pelts are imported into the United States from countries all over the world, including China and other Asian countries.

Statistics on fur and leather imports and exports are kept by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. But species-specific data are recorded only for certain animals. A wide range of pelts and fur-skin products are grouped together in one category, designated NESOI (Not Elsewhere Specified or Otherwise Indicated). This category includes pelts from any species of animal not specifically defined by the bureau, including cats and dogs.

Investigators learned that many companies and individuals involved in the trade of cat and dog fur use ambiguous terms and mislabeling to disguise the true identity of their products. Complicating the labeling issue even more, the final version of the Dog and Cat Protection Act of 2000 did not include the requirement sought by The HSUS for labeling of all fur products regardless of their price. Under current law, products with fur valued at less than $150 do not have to be labeled. Dog and cat fur products, which sell at the low end of the market, are commonly mislabeled or sold without labels to disguise their species content so that American consumers and retailers will not realize what they are buying.

In addition, U.S. citizens by the millions travel to Europe and Asia, where dog and cat fur products are sold every day, though the products are rarely labeled as such. So the very real probability exists that American consumers could be buying dog and cat fur—in this country or while traveling—whether they mean to or not.

The Bottom Line: All Fur is Deadly

We are a nation of pet owners. There are an estimated 53 million owned dogs and 59 million owned cats in the United States. Few, if any, pet owners would knowingly subject their own beloved pets to the horror and pain suffered by dogs and cats caught up in the global fur trade. Yet can anyone be sure that the pair of fur-lined gloves or the fur-trimmed jacket in a department store isn't made—literally—from the misery of companion animals just like ours? The truth is, we can't.

Nonlabeling, mislabeling, and the wide use of pseudonyms for cat and dog fur make it nearly impossible in many cases for virtually any consumer to know what he or she is buying, whether in the United States or when traveling. The trade in fur involves global interaction and exchange. Animals may be killed in one country, processed in another, and the finished garment or accessory sold in a store or market anywhere in the world.

That alone would be enough reason to stop buying fur. But there's more. Dog and cat fur are just a part of the fur industry—it's all connected, and the trade in domestic cat and dog fur and skin is closely linked to the mainstream fur trade. Investigators found that furriers dealing in all species of animals traditionally exploited for "pelt production" may trade in dogs and cats as well. The availability and use of dog and cat fur is documented in standard trade journals used in the fur industry. But it is unlikely that consumers know the truth, and it is probable that even retailers, store buyers, and designers are unaware of the real source of some of the fur they buy or use.

The bottom line is that buying any fur product serves to support the fur industry as a whole and sends the message that fur is desirable instead of deadly.

Any demand for fur ensures that somewhere an animal is suffering and dying to fill that demand—maybe, in some cold, dark corner of the world, an animal just like your own pet.

To read the Dog and Cat Protection Act of 2000, passed after Congress learned of The HSUS's investigation into the dog and cat fur trade, download the PDF.

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