I stumbled across the Channel 4 documentary Kill It, Skin It, Wear It on YouTube today in which chef Merrilees Parker explores the ethics of the fur trade.
Parker admits to liking fur, but can she kill it, skin it and still wear it? She want to find out if it’s possible to source ethical fur as we source ethical food. Contains graphic footage of animals in distress, slaughter and butchery which some viewers may find upsetting.
I had pretty strong feelings going in that however ethical the fur trade might be that I could not ever find myself supporting it and the documentary largely didn’t change my position. I did however find myself somewhat convinced by the trapper whose selling of pelts came as a byproduct of controlling the population of wild animals that threatened the livestock of farmers.
I feel there is a fundamental difference between farming animals for meat and farming them for fur even if the end result is the death of an animal. This might not be a completely rational position but I value the human need for food much higher than that for fashion.