The issue

Fur bobbles and trims on hats, jackets and boots. The sale of fur products has seen a big resurgence in recent years. Today, fur is cheap to mass produce and therefore affordable. It is often used to trim textiles and embellish fashion accessories ‒ that’s why real fur often goes unnoticed and people don’t realize the unimaginable suffering behind it.

Obtaining fur products has not become any more animal-friendly. Quite the opposite, in fact. Ever since Asia has become a major producer and exporter of fur products, the animal welfare issue has become even more acute. Current images make it abundantly clear: rearing and killing animals for their fur still involves the most barbaric torture.

Wearing fur is seen as “trendy” among the rich and the beautiful. And so the younger generation becomes desensitised – and they don’t see how much blood and pain is attached to every single piece of fur.

Although a fur declaration ordinance has been in place in Switzerland since 2013, it is evident that 70% of the shops inspected still declare insufficiently or not at all. Random checks by authorities, animal welfare organisations and the media have also shown that consumers are often deliberately misled about critical points of fur production and thus encouraged to buy. Even an optimally designed and implemented mandatory declaration process would still not prevent fur goods produced in a cruel way to be imported and sold.

 

Our project

Together with a number of other animal welfare organisations, Fondation Franz Weber has launched an awareness and education campaign. Across Switzerland, a total of 2,500 posters can be seen throughout the year in three national languages.

Our campaign aims to shake up, inform and shock. We want to raise awareness of the tremendous suffering experienced by fur animals – people should know what they are wearing and how much blood comes with it.

The objective of our campaign is to increase people’s awareness of this issue and finally put a stop to wearing fur for good.

Furthermore, Fondation Franz Weber supports the collection of signatures for the petition “No import of fur products obtained through animal abuse”. The petition calls on the federal parliamentarians in Bern, Switzerland to support the motion 19.4425 submitted by Swiss National Councillor Matthias Aebischer for a ban on the import of fur products produced in a cruel manner. This is because the methods used abroad to hunt animals for fur (leghold traps, snares and killing traps) as well as the conditions under which they are kept (cramped cages with wire mesh floors) in commercial “fur farms” – from which 85% of the fur comes – clearly constitute animal cruelty according to the standards of the Swiss Animal Welfare Act.

Therefore, it is clear: Only a total ban on fur imports will prevent cruelly produced fur products from finding their way into Swiss shops. Sign this petition and help us spread the word!

 

More information:

  • Online petition: “No import of fur products obtained through animal abuse” (in German, French, Italian)
  • SRF documentary: “Fur from farms – The suffering of arctic fox and raccoon dog in Finland” (in Swiss-German)

Our goals

  • Put an end to wearing fur
  • An import ban on fur products that don't have a clear declaration of origin
  • Demonstrate that neither an import ban nor an advertising ban of fur products would conflict with Switzerland’s international obligations

Facts and Figures

***

0 million animals
are brutally killed worldwide every year for their fur
0 different chemicals
are needed for the tanning of fur
0 billion
US dollars is the global annual turnover of the fur industry
0 fur farms
exist in EU member states alone (2018)
Share this