Every year, millions of animals are killed for the clothing industry. Whether they come from Chinese fur farms, Indian slaughterhouses, or the Australian outback, an immeasurable amount of suffering goes into every fur-trimmed jacket, leather belt, and wool sweater.
Animals on fur farms spend their entire lives confined to cramped, filthy wire cages. Fur farmers use the cheapest and cruelest killing methods available, including suffocation, electrocution, gassing, and poisoning. More than half the fur in the U.S. comes from China, where millions of dogs and cats are bludgeoned, hanged, bled to death, and sometimes even skinned alive for their fur. Chinese fur is often deliberately mislabeled, so if you wear any fur, there’s no way of knowing whose skin you’re in.
Most leather comes from developing countries such as India and China, where animals routinely have their throats cut and their skin ripped off while they are still conscious. In India, a PETA investigation found that cows have their tails broken and chili peppers and tobacco rubbed into their eyes so that they will walk after they collapse while traveling long distances to slaughter.
Most of the world’s wool comes from Australia, where sheep undergo “mulesing,” a gruesome mutilation in which large chunks of skin and flesh are cut from lambs’ backsides without any painkillers. Each year, millions of sheep discarded by the Australian wool industry are crammed onto export ships to be sent to the Middle East. Sheep who survive the terrifying voyage are often dragged off trucks by their ears and legs, tied up, and beaten and have their throats cut while they are still conscious.
The exotic skins trade is just as horrifying. Snakes and lizards are skinned alive because of the belief that live flaying makes leather more supple. Kid goats are boiled alive to make gloves, and the skins of unborn calves and lambs—some purposely aborted, others were taken from slaughtered pregnant cows and ewes—are considered especially “luxurious.
Which animals are used in the fur trade?
Beavers
Beavers are extremely gentle, family-oriented animals who mate for life and remain lifelong friends with their offspring. The second-largest rodent in the world, the beaver can live 19 years, reach 60 pounds, and grow up to 4 feet long. Baby beavers, or “kits,” are usually born to hard-working, loving parents who have been together for many years. Female beavers are especially busy as they care for their young while looking after their rambunctious “teenagers.”Chinchillas
Chinchillas are shy, intelligent animals who eat vegetables and fruits and can live up to 15 years in the wild. Social “chatterboxes,” these sensitive nocturnal animals can spend all night long “talking” to one another. Fastidiously clean, they require frequent dust baths to care for their extremely dense fur. These “fluff fests” also provide invaluable moments of comfort and entertainment—moments that are denied caged chinchillas who are cruelly “farmed” for their fur.Dogs and cats
“Man’s best friend” killed for fur? It’s not just a bad dream. PETA’s recent undercover investigation into the Chinese dog and cat fur trade revealed what the industry is so desperate to hide. Even our veteran investigators were horrified at what they found: Millions of dogs and cats in China are bludgeoned, hanged, bled to death, and strangled with wire nooses so that their fur can be turned into trim and trinkets.Foxes
Foxes are intelligent nocturnal animals who rely on their big bushy tails to spread scent in order to communicate. Foxes usually survive by eating fruit, berries, roots, carrion, rats, and slugs. Foxes play an important ecological role, as they “clean” the environment, and their survival often depends upon the amount of available food in their territories. They bury food and have a very good sense of hearing, picking up sounds of small animals in the grass, underground, or under the snow. They have a keen sense of smell and will hunt from dusk to dawn.Minks
Sometimes called “marsh otters,” minks love to swim (aided by their slightly webbed hind feet) and are often found near water. They can swim to depths of 50 feet underwater on just one breath. In the wild, minks are generally territorial and solitary and often travel long distances, sometimes using the dens of other animals as “hotel pit stops.” Minks prefer habitats that provide good cover—such as grass, brush, trees, and aquatic vegetation—and they make their dens in cavities in brush or rock piles, logjams, and exposed roots of trees. Rabbits
Rabbits are extremely social animals who live with their families in underground burrows called “warrens.” They can hop faster than a cat, human, or white-tailed deer can run. Rabbits love nibbling on alfalfa, timothy hay, apples, carrots, and crisp, green veggies, and they chew vigorously to trim their front teeth, which never stop growing. They communicate through body language, marking their territories like cats by rubbing their chins on twigs, rocks, or other landmarks.
Raccoons
Raccoons can be recognised by their beautiful eyes, which are outlined by a black mask of fur. They have thick, fuzzy brown-gray fur, and highly sensitive ears tufted with white fur. Those who live in humid, dense forests have darker fur than those in arid climates, where raccoon fur is a lighter, reddish colour. Their bushy tails keep them balanced and stores fat during winter months, while their front limbs provide them with great manual dexterity.
Seals
For thousands of years, harp seals have migrated from Greenland down the coast of Canada, stopping each spring to give birth on the ice floes. Female harp seals give birth to one pup each year.Bears
For nearly two centuries, Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has waged a war on black bears, subsidizing the slaughter of hundreds of these animals in Canada and using their pelts to make headpieces for The Queen’s Guards. 
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