Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Fur In Sean John Jackets Infuriates The Humane Society

Sean "Diddy" Combs' Sean John fashion line has come under fire, after The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) determined that a Sean John jacket that was advertised as using "faux fur" contained real fur from a canine species.
Last week, The HSUS released the results of a mass spectometry test conducted on a Sean John Hooded Snorkel Jacket, which was originally advertised as having "imitation fur" and sold on Macys.com as well as in other traditional retail stores.
According to tests conducted by The HSUS, the jacket actually contained fur from a canine species known as "raccoon dog."
Macy's has already pulled the mislabeled jackets from its Macys.com store and its department stores as well. The HSUS is urging all retailers to pull the jacket from the shelves.
The Sean John jackets weren't the only jackets subjected to the spectrometry tests.
THE HSUS found that a range of fur-trimmed jackets were being produced by clothing lines like Andrew Marc, MaxMara, Calvin Klein and Baby Phat, while retailers like Burlington Coat Factory, Bloomingdale's, J.C. Penney and Saks Fifth Avenue were selling the mislabeled jackets, in violation of The Fur Products Labeling Act.
"First these jackets were falsely advertised as faux fur, and then it turned out that the fur came from a type of dog," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The HSUS. "This is an industry-wide problem, and our investigation demonstrates that retailers and designers aren't paying close enough attention to composition of the fur trim they are selling. It's especially problematic when the fur is sourced from China where domestic dogs and cats and raccoon dogs are killed in gruesome ways, even skinned alive. The safest course of action is for Sean Combs and other designers and retailers to stop using fur trim. That single act would solve the problems we have uncovered."
According to statistics, China is the leading exporter of fur and supplies almost half of all of the fur products that enter the United States for sale.
The HSUS maintains that China kills dogs, cats, foxes and raccoon dogs in barbaric ways and maintains that fur sellers in China will attach almost any label their customers want on their coats.
"It would be jarring to the public to shop in a marketplace where dog and cat fur is banned, but coats labeled as 'raccoon dog' are still legally sold," added Pacelle.
The HSUS is the United States' largest animal protection organization with nearly 10 million members and constituents. According to The HSUS, over 50 million animals are killed each year for their fur.