A children’s vest made from the skin of two cats being sold in a popular shopping centre in Melbourne has ignited calls for a crackdown on the sale of fur.
A joint investigation by the Animal Justice Party and the Collective Fashion Justice party discovered the origin of the fur found on the vest after it was tested in a lab.
The jacket, likely to be made from the skin of two cats, as well as rabbits, was labelled as 100 per cent ‘sheep skin’.
The vests are being sold by the Suttons Ugg chain store.
Two beanies with pom poms labelled as 100 per cent ‘acrylic’ were also tested, with the results revealing they were made from fox and raccoon dog fur.
These beanies were sold at Queen Victoria Market.
British fibre analysis firm Mircrotex carried out the tests ordered by fashion advocacy group Collective Fashion Justice.
Animal Justice Party MP for Northern Victoria Georgie Purcell called for the sale of fur to be banned as she fronted reporters on Thursday.
‘The message from the community couldn’t be clearer – fur is out of fashion. Whether it’s cat, dog, rabbit, or fox – the one constant is that it’s all cruel,’ she said.
‘The time for regulation is done. The only thing left to do is to completely ban fur, just as other jurisdictions around the world have already done.’
Campaigners have called for a statewide ban on the sale of all animal fur and a blanket ban on fur imports.
They argue consumers are unknowingly purchasing real fur produced in cruel conditions overseas that has been illegally mislabelled.
Businesses can be fined up to $50million and individuals $2.5million, under consumer laws, for making false or misleading claims about products.
Emma Hakansson, the founding director of Collective Fashion Justice, said this wasn’t the first time fur has been illegally mislabelled on items available for purchase in .
‘Every single time we have sent fur for testing the lab has confirmed it was illegally mislabelled and this has been true for years now.’
‘While Victorians will be horrified to know there is cat fur being sold in markets and shopping centres, all fur sales cause unacceptable suffering,’ she said.
‘No animal should be killed for fashion.
‘Victoria’s fashion industry led the way when Melbourne Fashion Week was the first in the world to go totally wildlife free, banning all fur, wild animal skins and feathers.
‘Collective Fashion Justice helped to write this police which is now in place at n FW, and in international shows. Now Victoria’s government must lead.’
More to come.