London Times: July 30, 2010
Two years ago I hosted a screening of video footage shot on a bear hunt in Canada, where fur for the bearskin hats worn by the British Army’s Guards regiments comes from. The complete disregard for suffering would appal any decent person.
So the recent announcement that the skins used to make the distinctive hats now come from brown bears, not black ones, makes little difference to me. Bears are bears, and suffering is suffering. The real question is why are any bears killed for their fur when synthetic materials are available?
Most of the British public opposes killing animals for nothing more than a ceremonial headpiece — and I agree. A YouGov poll commissioned by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) found that only 14 per cent of Britons support the use of real fur for the hats. I invite this minority — and Ministry of Defence officials, many of whom seem content to drag their feet on this — to watch the video (it is online at UnbearableCruelty.com). I can’t imagine anyone saying that real fur is desirable after watching it.
In Canada, it is not uncommon to hunt from bait sites. Food is left out so that bears become used to going to the same spot to eat. Hunters wait in tree stands and kill the animals who come looking for their regular meal.
The footage includes shots of a hungry mother bear being lured to such a site, and being gunned down for her fur — leaving her cub orphaned. “Baiting” bears like this is cowardly and cruel. Killing a mother is a death sentence for her cubs too, as nursing cubs depend on their mothers for everything. Biologists estimate that 70 per cent of cubs who are orphaned die within a year from starvation, exposure or predation. Many bears do not die right away and are shot many times. Some wander off to bleed slowly to death. The video also shows hunters making crude jokes and laughing as they skin a bear. Is this the sort of violent subculture that we taxpayers wish to support?
Fortunately, we don’t have to. For some years, the fashion designer Stella McCartney and the Canadian eco-designer Atom Cianfarani have been developing a faux-fur hat that can pass the MoD’s water-resistance tests. Peta recently presented a prototype to Peter Luff, the Defence Minister, and I am heartened to hear that he has approved further testing.
Switching to faux fur would not only benefit bears. Synthetic fur is lighter and more breathable than real fur — a plus for the Guards on hot summer days. It is also cheaper. I urge Mr Luff and the MoD to find a suitable alternative to bear fur. For hundreds of magnificent bears in Canada, the situation is critical. It’s time we ended our war against these beautiful animals.
So the recent announcement that the skins used to make the distinctive hats now come from brown bears, not black ones, makes little difference to me. Bears are bears, and suffering is suffering. The real question is why are any bears killed for their fur when synthetic materials are available?
Most of the British public opposes killing animals for nothing more than a ceremonial headpiece — and I agree. A YouGov poll commissioned by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) found that only 14 per cent of Britons support the use of real fur for the hats. I invite this minority — and Ministry of Defence officials, many of whom seem content to drag their feet on this — to watch the video (it is online at UnbearableCruelty.com). I can’t imagine anyone saying that real fur is desirable after watching it.
In Canada, it is not uncommon to hunt from bait sites. Food is left out so that bears become used to going to the same spot to eat. Hunters wait in tree stands and kill the animals who come looking for their regular meal.
The footage includes shots of a hungry mother bear being lured to such a site, and being gunned down for her fur — leaving her cub orphaned. “Baiting” bears like this is cowardly and cruel. Killing a mother is a death sentence for her cubs too, as nursing cubs depend on their mothers for everything. Biologists estimate that 70 per cent of cubs who are orphaned die within a year from starvation, exposure or predation. Many bears do not die right away and are shot many times. Some wander off to bleed slowly to death. The video also shows hunters making crude jokes and laughing as they skin a bear. Is this the sort of violent subculture that we taxpayers wish to support?
Fortunately, we don’t have to. For some years, the fashion designer Stella McCartney and the Canadian eco-designer Atom Cianfarani have been developing a faux-fur hat that can pass the MoD’s water-resistance tests. Peta recently presented a prototype to Peter Luff, the Defence Minister, and I am heartened to hear that he has approved further testing.
Switching to faux fur would not only benefit bears. Synthetic fur is lighter and more breathable than real fur — a plus for the Guards on hot summer days. It is also cheaper. I urge Mr Luff and the MoD to find a suitable alternative to bear fur. For hundreds of magnificent bears in Canada, the situation is critical. It’s time we ended our war against these beautiful animals.
