Fur Industry

Montreal, fur capital of North America, has about 200 fur garment manufacturers in a dozen buildings in the heart of downtown, between Boulevard de Maisonneuve and Ste. Catherine, and Bleury and St. Alexandre.

In West Hollywood, critters are king. Stores are forbidden to sell dogs and cats, there's a ban on de-clawing felines and a city ordinance states that animals are not "owned" ? they are cared for by guardians. On Saturday, residents rallied around yet another animal-friendly campaign, this one directed at local apparel shops. Nearly 200 people crowded onto the northwest corner of Crescent Heights and Santa Monica boulevards to demand that the West Hollywood City Council prohibit the sale of fur in town.

For furrier Machiel de Groot, plying his trade is pure hell. After six years of tumult led by animal rights activists, fur clothing has virtually disappeared in this country, nearly 400 furriers have dwindled to just 32 and for all practical purposes, Holland has become the industrialized world's first "fur-free" society. Americans who believe the wearing of furs means cruelty to animals look to this country as a model. They have forged a working relationship with the Dutch anti-fur leaders and view them as mentors and heroes.

Did it hit a peak last July at the Paris couture shows? Who can say? But even Giorgio Armani threw his sedate reputation out the window when he showed a fuchsia crocodile jacket, and on the runways this fall, the taste for exotic fur ballooned to gorilla-coat proportions. And as recently as Tuesday, Burberry invited customers into its Beverly Hills store to get their favorite handbag made to measure in anaconda or python. Forget mink. Forget leather. How ordinary.

When Wanda Presburger set a sales trap outside her Beverly Hills fur salon, she never expected such a quick catch. The owner of Somper Furs recently adorned her store window with the identical beaver coat that she knew would be featured in the fur industry's first image campaign, which started last month. Only days after placing the fur in her store window, a customer with the ad in hand walked into the store and snapped up the $8,000 coat.

Their mission sounds like an oxymoron: devising traps to kill animals as humanely as possible. Using high-tech methods approved by a national council of veterinarians, a research team in this small prairie town is testing a variety of lethally named contraptions. For example, there's the C-120 Magnum, a "single-strike rotating jaw trap with pitchfork trigger." Animal-rights militants denounce the work as ghastly.

On behalf of the more than 1.2 million members of the Humane Society of the U.S., I would like to express my amazement over Mary Williams Walsh's article, "Canada's Fur Trade Feels Chill" (Column One, Nov. 6). To claim that the fur industry is the savior of Canada's Indians is fallacious. Native people respect the Earth and its animal inhabitants. By making the killing of animals a commercial venture, as the fur industry has done, the sanctity of life is reduced to a monetary value, a complete reversal of the traditional beliefs of Indians.

As uninformed as his opinions on the fur industry are, Al Martinez ("Kiss a Mink Goodby," Dec. 18) is entitled to them. In fact, his column proves the point that many animal-rights activists are trying to make: Humans are so arrogant that they don't think about the animal's thoughts and feelings. While he calls the gassing of a mink "bidding a cheerful goodby," we call our own gas chamber "capital punishment." JACK CUSICK Long Beach

Animal rights activists protested in cities across the nation Friday, urging Christmas shoppers to avoid choosing furs as presents. Ten people were arrested at one of the demonstrations in San Francisco. Trans-Species Unlimited, an animal-rights group based in Williamsport, Pa., staged its third annual Fur-Free Friday to focus attention on what it says is the suffering of animals raised to support the fur industry. "The people of this country buy the propaganda of the fur industry . . .

The European Parliament overwhelmingly approved a ban on trade in products containing cat or dog fur. The ban, which must be approved by European Union governments, would take effect in 2009. The European Commission says cat and dog fur can be found in some clothing, personal accessories and soft toys being sold on the European market, either falsely labeled as another kind of fur or hidden within the product.

Macy's has pulled from its shelves and its website two styles of Sean John hooded jackets, originally advertised as featuring faux fur, after an investigation by the Humane Society of the United States concluded that the garments contained fur from a nondomesticated species of dog called "raccoon dog." The species is indigenous to Asia and is said to be raised in large numbers because its fur closely resembles raccoon.

After a decade in which only the most stout of heart (or tone-deaf) would risk provoking a faux bloodbath by wearing an authentic fur, the fashion world--and the women who follow it--are in a fuzzy frenzy. Fur has returned--in giant slashes of cobalt blue and sea-green at Sonia Rykiel, in primly tailored jackets and stoles at Lanvin, in luxurious coats at Dolce & Gabbana, and in rock-star rags at Roberto Cavalli.

Demonstrators holding signs with graphic images marched along Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills on Friday, part of an annual event aimed at ending the sale of fur. The group of about 50 targeted retailers included Neiman Marcus, Hugo Boss, Prada, Saks Fifth Avenue and Yves Saint Laurent. "We aren't living in the time of Daniel Boone anymore," said teacher Valerie Belt, participating in her first protest. "We don't need fur coats anymore. We've got synthetic material that's so much warmer."

The return of fur to the world's fashion catwalks has spelled death to thousands of endangered animals with a boom in demand for their skins, a top wildlife protection officer said Friday. John Sellar, senior enforcement officer for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, said there had been a surge in seizures of tiger and leopard skins as the fashion industry embraced fur once again.

The Senate agreed Friday to ban imports of products made from dog and cat fur, a practice that was uncovered by a leading animal rights group last year. The measure, sponsored by Senate Finance Committee Chairman William V. Roth Jr. (R-Del.), was part of a bill dealing with noncontroversial import duty issues and technical changes to trade laws. The bill passed by voice vote. The measure bans imports of products made from dog and cat fur and requires labeling of all fur products.

Back in the Stone Age, folks wore fur for a strictly functional reason--to keep warm. Several thousand years later, fur had evolved into a fashion statement that, along with diamonds and Rolls-Royces, conveyed classic style as well as wealth. But icons are meant to be broken. And fur is no exception. Recent years have seen the rise of the animal rights lobby, whose anti-cruelty campaigns tapped neatly into a burgeoning environmental movement.

Citigroup Inc. plans to start a Web site with software provided by Commerce One Inc. to allow its corporate customers to trade goods and services online. Citigroup will also become the main financial services provider on Commerce One's online marketplace for businesses. Financial terms of the venture weren't disclosed. Shares in Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Commerce One rose $5 to close at $189.25 on Nasdaq, while Citigroup closed off $1.13 at $52.50 on the NYSE.

Jason Baker, a campaign coordinator for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, flew in from Norfolk, Va., over the weekend to direct an anti-fur protest in Dana Point, only to find someone else had already drawn first blood. An unidentified protester slipped into a Ritz-Carlton reception for an annual gathering of fashion moguls on Sunday night and doused Gucci designer Tom Ford with tomato juice. "She kind of showed us up," Baker said Monday. "We were just tickled pink."