Department store Harvey Nichols has gone back on its fur free policy from 2004 and has started selling real animal fur again.
Why were 60 people 'crying' outside Harvey Nichols Knightsbridge this weekend?
Pressure mounts on the iconic department store to drop controversial fur from sale.
If you were Christmas shopping in Knightsbridge on Saturday, it would have been pretty hard to miss the sixty 'crying' people who were lining the front of Harvey Nichols' flagship store in opposition to the sale of fur.
Heartless Harvey Nichols organised the 'Faces of Fur' stunt as part of a growing campaign aimed at persuading the department store chain to discontinue stocking animal pelts. The company made a controversial move to return fur to its racks last year, following a decade-long embargo.
“Harvey Nichols maintains slaughtering animals for their fur is somehow ethical and humane. The company's Board of Directors cannot shy away from the fact individual animals are being killed solely for fashion,” said a Spokesperson for Heartless Harvey Nichols before the event.
He continued, “We will be bringing the faces of these animals to the flagship store socustomers can decide for themselves whether this is right or wrong. Those who oppose the slaughter of animals for fur are urged to simply vote with their feet.”
In a statement Harvey Nichols claims its 'Origin Assured' label ensures all fur stocked is “sourced humanely and ethically.” However, a gruesome exposéreleased a fortnight ago, presented by Paloma Faith on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), shows animals on farms which are approved to supply the quality control scheme. Foxes with skinless paws are visible in cages next to the decomposing bodies of other animals, as well as a mink with part of its brain exposed. Other animals with weeping wounds and infected injuries are also uncovered.The standard methods of slaughter permitted by European Legislation when killing animals for their fur has also been revealed. Mink and other mustelids are dispatched by carbon monoxide poisoning in gas chambers. Foxes are killed through through electrocution until heart attacks are induced. Rabbits are knocked out before having their throats cut.It is not just animals impacted on by the production of fur, but also the environment. A ground-breaking 2011 report by CE Delft reveals how farmed fur outscores other materials by 2-28 times for land use and climate change, with 20 times more greenhouse gasses produced than other textiles.The David Suzuki Foundation has also identified manure run-off from mink farms presenting a major threat to soil and water quality in Nova Scotia, Canada's largest fur farming region, and posing a serious risk to humans, wildlife and the environment.
Consequently, the battle to remain the last high street department store stocking fur appears to be taking a toll on Harvey Nichols' reputation, with a£5.1 million stoop in profits announced and a costly court case failing to keep protesters at bay. 6,500 people have also backed a pledge to take their custom elsewhere. It is no wonder Liberty London, Selfridges, House of Fraser, John Lewis and Debenhams all proudly host strict policies of not selling fur.
Harvey Nichols were unavailable for comment to clarify their current position.
Petitioning CEO, Harvey Nichols Stacey Cartwright and 3 others
Harvey Nichols: Stop Selling Fur
Harvey Nichols is selling fur in their Department Stores across the United Kingdom. The fur in their stores is obtained by gassing mink to death, electrocuting foxes and racoon dogs, cutting the throats of rabbits and trapping coyotes in the wild.
Do you agree fur is not fashion, it is cruelty? We – the undersigned – pledge to remove our custom from Harvey Nichols until fur is no longer sold.
LETTER TO
CEO, Harvey Nichols Stacey Cartwright - https://www.change.org/p/harvey-nichols-stop-selling-fur-2
Group Fashion Buying Director, Harvey Nichols Anita Barr
Group Communications Director Emma Byrne
and 1 other
I write to you as members of the Board of Directors of Harvey Nichols in relation to the sale of fur by the department store.
As you are aware, the production of fur involves killing animals for their pelts to be sold by Harvey Nichols. Mink are gassed, foxes and raccoon dogs electrocuted, rabbits have their throats cut and coyotes are trapped in the wild for the fur in your shops.
Fur is not fashion, it is cruelty.
I pledge to remove my custom from Harvey Nichols until fur is no longer sold.
As you are aware, the production of fur involves killing animals for their pelts to be sold by Harvey Nichols. Mink are gassed, foxes and raccoon dogs electrocuted, rabbits have their throats cut and coyotes are trapped in the wild for the fur in your shops.
Fur is not fashion, it is cruelty.
I pledge to remove my custom from Harvey Nichols until fur is no longer sold.
