Oldham Liberal Democrats call for Oldham markets to be fur free

Liberal Democrat Councillors Julia Turner and Chris Gloster will be proposing a motion at the next full meeting of Oldham Council (Wednesday 12 September) calling on the Council to outlaw the sale of real fur from all markets in the borough.

Councillor Turner, who is proposing the motion, said: “Regrettably customers often have no idea that they are buying products which contain real fur as they are often sold under the guise of ‘faux fur’. Real fur is sometimes used for trims on hats, gloves, and footwear, and pom-poms on hats and clothing. Although the UK banned domestic fur farming in 2000, it is still legal to sell products containing some types of real fur that have been imported. Imported fur can be very cheap, but it comes at a price of extreme cruelty to the animals it came from.”

“Some 100 million animals every year are killed for fur. Much of the fur we import into our country comes from China, where there is practically no animal welfare legislation. It comes from animals raised in deplorable conditions and killed by gassing or anal electrocution. There have even been instances filmed of animals being skinned alive. Other animals are cruelly trapped in the wild by steel jawed leg-hold traps. Once caught, many go to great lengths to try to escape, often breaking teeth as they bite the steel trap, sometimes even chewing off their trapped limbs in their desperation.”

The Oldham Liberal Democrats want the Council to become a signatory to the Fur Free Markets campaign of the animal welfare charity, Respect for Animals, the UK’s leading anti-fur organisation, and to work with the charity to ensure that no products containing real fur are sold at the borough’s markets.

Councillor Turner added: “I am sure that the vast majority of shoppers would be horrified to find they had accidentally purchased a real fur product knowing the abominable cruelty that these animals suffer. By working with the charity Respect for Animals, we can ensure that real fur products are banned in Oldham.”

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