50 million animals are killed for their fur every year. Shockingly, even Ireland has a secret fur trade - there are currently 5 mink farms and at least 1 fox farm in this country, where annually a total of 150,000 animals are killed. Thankfully, there is now a phase-out ban of these fur farms in place, but it won’t be complete until 2012. In the meantime, these animals will still be imprisoned and murdered on these death camps. A campaign is also now underway to ban the importation and sale of real fur in Ireland. A number of councils around the country, including Dublin City Council, have already pledged their support of this, by passing council bans on real fur. Sadly these bans do not apply to individual shops in their jurisdictions, but it is still a great step toward the total elimination of the fur industry here. The animals murdered by the fur trade every year include mink, fox, rabbit, chinchilla, raccoon, coyote, sable and wolf. Even cats and dogs are used - many of whom are skinned alive. Mink are kept in cages with a floor space equivalent of just 2 shoe boxes. They are usually gassed to death by carbon monoxide- up to 50 mink at a time are put into the killing box. This results in a majority being merely unconscious - not dead - when they are being skinned. Foxes are kept in cages just 1 metre square (2 fox per cage). They are killed by electrocution - utilising a 12 volt car battery with a transformer of 200 volts. Electrodes are clamped to their mouth while rods are inserted into their rectum and an extremely painful death ensues. Despite what the fur industry claims, rabbit fur is NOT a by-product of the meat industry. Millions of rabbits are bred specifically for their fur each year and they are killed by either having their necks broken or their throats slit. For wild animals, leg-hold traps are used. The traps work by clamping the animals' leg, biting deep into the flesh. The victims wait a long time, growing weaker through pain and attempts to escape, before the trapper returns to kill them by clubbing or suffocation. Animals are not ours to wear. There is no excuse - FUR IS MURDER!!! For information on the cruelty of the leather, wool and silk industries, please check out Viva!'s page: The Big Cover Up