Decked out in... dog? More reasons to boycott Chinese goods

Andrea Karim — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 21:16:56 +0000

Thinking of boycotting Chinese goods? I know I've been pondering it for a while, but I'm definitely struggling with the idea, knowing how hard it will be.

But Chinese exporters keep giving me more reasons to take my frustation with their products to the next logical level... a boycott. Here's something that might just push me over the edge into a China-free zone: the dog and cat fur trade is alive and well in the Middle Kingdom, and animal pelts that are banned in the US still often make it over here attached to coats, hats, and boots.

The EU recently decided to ban the import of dog and cat fur. You'd think that such a ban might have been imposed a while back, but apparently the big impetus here is to outlow mislabeling of fur. That's right - that fox-trimmed coat you bought at Neiman Marcus might contain the pelts of a few long-haired kitties.

Dogs and cats are regularly killed for food and medicine in China (not every part of China, mind you, but still, in enough parts that it matters) and the fur is sold overseas.

The Humane Society has documented a number of cases in which imported Chinese fur from dogs and cats is used in clothing sold in the US. It's mislabeled, of course, to circumvent a ban on the import of such fur already in place in the US.

Think you're not contributing to the problem because you only wear faux fur? Turns out that much of the 'fake' fur is mislabeled, too - it's might be a mix of racoon and dog.

Mislabeling seems to be a fairly common practice for Chinese exporters. China is still in full-fledged 'Make us rich' mode, so honesty is not considered the best policy when it comes to letting people know what they are buying, especially if tainted or illegal ingredients are a part of the product.

Me, I find all fur-wearing abhorrent, but then, I'm a veganish liberal who feels bad about killing a spider. But as someone with two Chinese dogs (including one that I'm afraid to say would have made a lovely hat), I feel a personal and moral obligation to speak out about this practice.

This article is from Andrea Karim of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

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Decked out in... dog? More reasons to boycott Chinese goods