Subject:

Salutation:

Thank you for any past efforts to close fur salons and/or end the sale of fur merchandise at your stores. This shows sensitivity to not only your customers, but also the unquestionable cruelty behind fur. I appreciate that fur and fur-trimmed items present challenging questions for upscale retailers in terms of customer satisfaction. But the minority who still request real fur shouldn't overshadow sound ethical policy. The fact is, even a "little fur trim" is a lot of suffering and death. Please expand your cruelty-free policy to include the termination of fur-trimmed merchandise. Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Kenneth Cole, Stella McCartney, Todd Oldham and more popular designers offer sophisticated collections without real fur. There is virtually no regulatory oversight of fur farms. Caged animals are typically stacked in open sheds where they pace in feces and urine. Some perish from dehydration, starvation or self-mutilation. They resort to head bobbing, infanticide, cannibalism, and other "coping tools." Pelts are often derived from genital electrocution. The killer delivers a 240-volt blast of electricity into an animal's rectum. The conscious, convulsing animal endures a heart attack for two or more minutes. Some die by cervical dislocation (neck popping). Others are injected with lethal junk chemicals. Animals are also asphyxiated with unfiltered carbon monoxide. Creatures trapped in the wild suffer no less. Those caught in leghold traps or snares may gnaw their teeth to the jawbone or chew off their feet to escape. Others languish on trap lines for days before trappers return to fatally club, stomp or drown them. No matter how you market it, fur is synonymous with violence and death. I respectfully ask you to offer cruelty-free couture at all your locations. Thank you,