Pledge

Take The Pledge:

I hereby pledge, from this moment forward, to refuse any fashion industry work involving the glamorization of real animal fur. I pledge to never wear, purchase or promote the sales of real animal fur. Given the opportunity, I pledge to inclusively and openly inform others of the reality of fur production and marketing -striving to inform and not offend.

I understand that:

  1. Fur is inherently cruel; there is no kind way to cage a wild animal for its entire life, or trap and kill it in the wild.
  2. Fur is not a textile – it is the skin and hair of a living, feeling animal who has a will to live, an innate desire to behave naturally; in physiological and social accordance with the evolution of its mind and body. Because depriving animals of these natural behaviors and desires is a structural aspect of fur farms, this results in physical and emotional suffering.
  3. Fur is unnecessary and unjustifiable unless one is homeless, a traditional indigenous person living in cold climates, or in a truly life-threatening situation.
  4. Fur performs no better than most synthetics when it comes to retaining warmth.
  5. Fur has lost it’s original meaning; it no longer communicates protection from the elements, security, tradition, luxury, wealth, taste, class or any sort of legitimate rebelliousness in the context of our current culture.
  6. Fur has become a very strong visual form of communication that says it’s wearer is either ignorant or indifferent to cruelty.
  7. Fur is a lie; the fur industry is a money making enterprise and is perpetuated for the sole purpose of generating wealth for its producers who hire manipulative, multimillion dollar marketing organizations to target, bribe and manipulate magazine editors, press, fashion students, designers, and fashion consumers.
  8. Fur production is never “eco-friendly“,(contrary to certain greenwashed marketing campaigns) when considering the toxic chemicals needed to prevent pelts from decomposing, and the necessary refrigerated storage of furs.
  9. Fur organizations spuriously appropriate indigenous people’s traditional garment craftsmanship to rationalize speciesism and the arrogant, greedy and frivolous use of animals.
  10. The misconception that the fur issue has two equal and opposing sides, or is a “personal choice” issue, is fallacious considering the valid perspective of individual animals whose lives and bodies are at stake are almost always omitted from the”personal choice” equation.
  11. While animal advocates stand to gain nothing but the well-being of animals stuck on fur farms or the alleviation of pain for animals trapped in the wild, the fur industry stands to gain or lose billions of consumer dollars.
  12. Solutions exist, and research, documentation, and the reality of fur production is easily accessible.
  13. No One Is Perfect; this is a social justice issue – not a puritanical religion. If you ever wore or worked with fur, there are plenty of options in donating existing fur garments to the homeless, orphaned wildlife, and animal shelters. Furthermore, beautiful, alternative textiles to work with are becoming more and more sustainable and accessible. Taking a stand against the forces of the fur industry is an easy and powerful way to show that you care about animals, but by no means requires a religious perfection.

 


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  • Anthony Macagnone

    First of all, thank you. As an avid environmentalist, I am overjoyed to see your thorough, intelligent advocacy for our brothers and sisters, the beautiful animals. You have opened my eyes to an issue within the fashion industry, and I would love to support your work by taking a stand alongside you. I’m so happy to have heard about Reinvent the Icon. I work with many models and people involved in the fashion industry within my movement center, and will further your pledge and mission as best I can.

  • http://twitter.com/MalikaMrch Malika Mørch

    Malika Mørch