UK : Wake up to real fur - RSPCA

The RSPCA is launching a new anti-fur campaign after an investigation revealed that two High Street chains were selling unlabelled or mislabelled fur.
The RSPCA is opposed to the fur industry because it is responsible for unnecessarily killing 55 million animals a year. The Society will launch its new campaign, called 100% Fake, alongside this year's The Clothes Show Live.
An RSPCA mystery shopper bought a coat with fur trim from a branch of the retailer, TK Maxx, which has a 'no fur' policy. The label claimed that the coat was made of polyester and nylon, and made no mention of fur. Laboratory analysis identified the trim as Arctic fox.
The mystery shopper also bought a pair of gloves with fur trim from an Edinburgh Woollen Mill store. The label claimed that the glove's cuffs were made from acrylic, but laboratory analysis identified the trim as rabbit fur.
There is no clear legal requirement for retailers to positively label fur as long as any labelling that does appear is not 'misleading'.
Not clearly labelled:
The RSPCA's head of external affairs, David Bowles, said: "We believe that real fur is mistakenly being widely sold in the UK. An RSPCA survey showed that 93 per cent of people would not wear real fur, but a lot of shoppers are accidentally buying it assuming it's fake because it is cheap and not clearly labelled."
As a result of the RSPCA's investigation, TK Maxx said that it was "committed to enforcing rigorous processes to ensure real fur products do not enter our business." The Edinburgh Woollen Mill has now pledged to stop selling fur by Spring 2008.