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Loading...Raccoon Dogs Skinned Alive To Make Boots
Shocking news was released by Humane Society International tying the famous Australian Ugg boot company to the horrific animal cruelty in the fur trade.
An investigation by HSI found boot makers for Ugg Australia footwear were among a group of Australian manufacturers mislabeling products as wool when they were actually using the pelts of raccoon dogs, skinned alive in China.
“HSI Director Verna Simpson said the Ugg boots her organization tested were just one of dozens of products being imported into Australia using raccoon dog fur and in other cases canine dog fur which is banned in Australia.”
The animal rights group gathered a team which included an animal hair identification expert to test and analyze a wide range of clothing.
One pair of Ugg boots tested by HSI revealed they contained dog raccoon fur, but were labeled “Australian sheep skin.”
The tragic plight of raccoon dogs has been documented by animal rights groups, and activists have tried to ban the use of their fur. The animals are kept in extremely cruel conditions on farms in China. When they are ready to be harvested for their pelts, the dogs are severely beaten and then skinned alive.
Raccoon dogs are indigenous to East Asia and related to wolves, coyotes and domestic dogs.
Graphic video filmed by Swiss Animal Protection documented how the terrified animals are beaten with sticks and kicked in the head to keep them still while workers skin them and toss them into heaps to die.
HSI has asked both the Australian government and Ugg Australia for comments. A spokesperson for Home Affairs, Minister Brendan O’Connor told the animal rights group the government would not ban the import of raccoon dog fur. He explained Australia only bans the import of endangered animals and plants.
“Extending the ban to fur products from the Asiatic raccoon, or ‘raccoon dog’ is not Government policy at this time,” said O’Connor.
In the past Ugg Australia spokesperson Lena McDonald denounced the use of raccoon dog fur by other brands and said it tarnished the entire Ugg boot industry.
McDonald continued to defend her company’s product saying the boots tested by HSI were not official “Ugg” products. She said her company used its own local tannery to ensure the quality and standards of its boots. She added that at any time there were between 30-40 products using the word “ugg” but that many were not made in Australia and used overseas materials including fur.
“As far as I can see many of these boots are not made in Australia at all yet they have the word Australia and ugg on them,” she said.
Australia Customs and Border Protection expressed their concern about importing falsely labeled fur products. If they doubt the “authenticity of a product or documents,” they may require the importer to provide a sample for their own experts to test.
If that importer is found guilty, a penalty of $110,000 or three times the value of the goods could be given.
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Read more: animal cruelty, animal rights, animals, fur trade, raccoon dog fur, ugg boots tied to fur trade
Photo from 49925114@NO via flickr
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Recent Comments from Causes
I note the author has played safe by listing species that no-one can imagine petting or cuddling (frog,…
THIS TEACHER SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIRED FOR GOOD! IF I HAD KIDS IN THIS SCHOOL I WOULD TAKE THEM OUT!
Winter person here, but Thanks great ideas!
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361 comments
+ add your ownThank you for sharing.
Stop this cruelty. Poor lovely animals.
Ashamed to be human!!!!!!!
Really? Is this all about looking hot, sexy, and depending on the type of fur announcing your wealth? Let's do one better...let's show that we have transcended the desire for fur at the expense of the suffering to these poor creatures God gave us to care for. Can you imagine the horrific pain of having your skin stripped from your flesh? Wearing fur is dumbing down, so all you have is hot and sexy. The ultimate is to have the brains to go with it! Intelligence is you minimize all suffering in the world to the extent that you can. When the demand is not there, those people will be forced to shut down those animal concentration camps. Let's call them what they are. Intelligent women/men will NOT WEAR FUR, and they are the people that can "put it together" and look hot!
China sucks
impossibile accettare tutto questo orrore e crudeltà che usa essere umano verso gli animali,siamo proprio veri bastardi
It seems Ms. Seltzer didn't rile up enough of the masses with her fake story the last time she posted it in Care2, so had to resurrect it yet again. The "racoon dogs" were not skinned for their hide/fur to make genuine Uggs Boots, nor were they killed by anyone in Australia. This is an OLD story, based on fake (imposter) boots smuggled into the country. It shocked enough last time.........those who didn't bother researching the facts, and looks like it's going for ROUND 2.
I have seen these videos before and its horrible it is so terrible to see these animals suffer while they are skinned alive..its unspeakable horror and needs to end now.!!!!
How do people see a difference between these raccoon dogs used for their fur and the cows, pigs and other animals used for food, clothes, shoes, purses, furniture etc? As humans evolve, more and more realize, (unless it's for euthanasia), all animal killing disgusting and unnecessary for healthy human survival.
It's so awful and just beyond words. I couldn't look at it. That's just so hideous. I would kick these people until they felt the same as these poor animals do. I know. It's also cruelty but from what I've learned such people won't change if they don't experience the same as their victims do.
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