10 Animals You Didn't Realize People Wear

Profile photo of Whitney-C

Posted January 17, 2014 by Whitney Calk

OK, so here’s the deal about wearing clothing made from animal furit’s gross. I mean, with all the faux fur and other cruelty-free fashion available in stores these days, is it really worth it to wear something someone else had to die for?

Chinese Fur Farm

Animals are often skinned alive for their fur, like this.

Yeah, we don’t think so, either. Why, you ask? Well …

fur quote mink

Here are 11 animals you probably didn’t even realize people actually wear:

1 and 2. Dogs and cats

Not even “man’s best friend” is safe from the fur trade. Millions of dogs and cats in China are bludgeoned, hanged, bled to death, and strangled with wire nooses so that their fur can be turned into trim and trinkets. Often cat and dog fur is mislabeled and then sold in the U.S.

3. Minks

Minks LOVE to swim and can even swim to depths of 50 feet on just one breath! But minks raised on fur farms are forced to live in small, dirty cages until they’re killed for their fur and are denied the opportunity to swim, which causes them a great deal of stress since this is their most natural urge.

4. Rabbits


Rabbits are extremely social animals who love nibbling on snacks like apples and green veggies, and adopted rabbit companions make lifelong bonds with humans, play with toys, and can even learn to use litterboxes. But on fur farms, workers kill rabbits using cruel methods—breaking their necks or beating in their skulls—before stringing them up by the legs and cutting off their heads.

In the Chinese angora wool industry, rabbits have their fur ripped out while they’re conscious and struggling. Undercover footage shot by PETA Asia found workers who were violently ripping the fur from the rabbits’ sensitive skin as they screamed at the top of their lungs in pain.

5. Foxes

Foxes are highly intelligent, bushy-tailed animals, and if left alone by humans (their sole predator), they can survive up to nine years in the wild. Unfortunately, many foxes are kept in tiny, filthy wire cages their whole lives before being killed for their fur. Others are caught in steel-jaw traps, which crush their legs until trappers arrive to beat them to death hours or days later.

6. Raccoons

In nature, raccoons can live seven years or longer. They’re smart, love frolicking and nesting, and have routines for finding food and shelter (and they can plot out and remember different hiding places for each).

Raccoons’ lives are often tragically and violently cut short for their fur. Like foxes, raccoons are hunted by starved dogs and often suffer in steel-jaw traps, where they endure hours of agony before they are killed—or chew an arm or leg off in an effort to escape.

7. Chinchillas

These shy and sensitive animals can live up to 15 years in the wild and are considered social “chatterboxes”—chinchillas can spend all night long “talking” to each other through a variety of vocalizations like barks, chirps, and squeaks. Aw!

The demand for chinchilla fur has resulted in their near extinction. On a fur farm in Midland, Michigan, PETA investigators observed that chinchillas were suffering from painful seizures after being electrocuted or having their necks broken while they were still conscious.

8. Beavers


Beavers today are in constant danger of being caught in traps. The body-gripping traps used to capture and kill beavers for their fur cause these sensitive animals immeasurable suffering. In many cases, the traps fail to catch the animals quickly or on target. If the traps do not kill the beavers immediately, they can slowly drown, suffering for up to 20 minutes before dying.

9. Seals

Mother seals and their pups form a very strong bond and recognize each other by sound and smell. Female seals nurse their pups for a few days before going out to sea to feed, leaving the pup in a nursery group or a protected area for three to five days. When the mothers return, they call their pup with a distinctive bark that the pup will answer.

Thousands of the mothers return from feeding to find that their pup has been murdered during the Canadian seal slaughter. During this slaughter, tens of thousands of seals are bludgeoned and skinned so that their fur can be turned into fur coats.

10. Bears

black bear

For nearly two centuries, Britain’s Ministry of Defence has waged a war on black bears, allowing the slaughter of hundreds of these animals in Canada and using their pelts to make headpieces for The Queen’s Guards.

Bears are cruelly killed for their hides; they are either shot during hunts or ensnared, sometimes for days, in painful traps. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources reports that during hunts, as many as one bear in seven is not killed immediately after being shot, and some escape wounded, often dying later from blood loss, gangrene, or starvation.

All that for a coat? No, thanks!

No clothing is worth someone else dying for. Instead, always shop cruelty-free at stores like Forever 21, H&M, Wet Seal, Charlotte Russe, and even Target for cute (and cheap) fur-free finds. :) If you’re wondering if a product is faux, just check the label. Still not sure? Ask us. We’ll help you out!
vegan leather label

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  • Profile photo of NatalieTheknight

    462 days ago

    VN:F [1.9.22_1171]


    This is disgusting skinning them alive how far will humanity go? I am glad i have stopped wearing and buying fur and leather.

  • Profile photo of chazcat

    463 days ago

    VN:F [1.9.22_1171]


    What is it with people…N when do we stop this madness

  • Profile photo of jeaneen

    502 days ago

    VN:F [1.9.22_1171]


    I was in a store a few months ago and they had a fake fur, but it said it must be dry cleaned. I found this odd, as I bought a fake fur about fifteen years ago and it can be washed in the wash and placed in the dryer. So I asked the manager if the store and he said it was a first for him too and he would check it out and I went back a few days later and all the coats were gone and the manager said he returned them as he believed they were real fur. I am glad some stores care.

  • 503 days ago

    VA:F [1.9.22_1171]


    This is truly horrific, it’s bad enough as it is but they can’t even humanely kill the animal first??? I saw a thing once that dog fur was used but it wasn’t on the label as such. It was even said that the manufactures were lied to by the suppliers of what it was. Now for the most part I just don’t by anything with any kind of fur on it. On the rare occasion that I do I’ll only get one that is totally obvious visually and by texture that it’s not animal fur.

    I do want to say that I’m not opposed to animals being used for clothing on the most part. However, only if the animal doesn’t suffer and it is done as a byproduct of them being killed for meat (ie a cow’s leather.)

    That being said if there is alternate that I’m just as happy I’ll go for that every time. It’s a no brainer.

    • Profile photo of Whitney-C

      502 days ago

      VN:F [1.9.22_1171]


      Quick response to your comment of “only if the animal doesn’t suffer and it is done as a byproduct of them being killed for meat (i.e. a cow’s leather”:

      ALL cows killed both for leather *and* for food suffer tremendously. On today’s factory farms, animals are crammed by the thousands into filthy, windowless sheds and confined to wire cages, gestation crates, barren dirt lots, and other cruel confinement systems. These animals will never raise their families, root around in the soil, build nests, or do anything that is natural and important to them. Most won’t even feel the sun on their backs or breathe fresh air until the day they are loaded onto trucks bound for slaughter.

      Cows killed specifically for leather still endure the same horrors as cows on factory farming, including castration, branding, tail-docking, and dehorning—all without any painkillers. More specific info on that here:

  • Profile photo of marinnnadj

    503 days ago

    VN:F [1.9.22_1171]


    Thank you for this useful information. I bought a shaggy vest in H&M and instantly checked whether It was made from animal fur.
    The label says: 70% modacrylic, 30% polyester – I hope they didn’t lie.

    If it is anyhow useful, I heard Tom Tailor and Müller make clothes from cats fur.

  • 519 days ago

    VA:F [1.9.22_1171]


    It’s always great to eat healthy and guilt free. There is no need for eating animal carcuses. Every green plant seed and root has various type of vitamins and proteins etc. Many people wonder if you are a vegan how can you get your protein? It shows that such questions they ask because they have not done any research or the home work to find out how these vegetables, fruits and simple food stuff works in a human body. I am glad that I do not consume any animal caucuses.

  • 519 days ago

    VA:F [1.9.22_1171]


    Such evil wickedness showers upon innocent animals simply to get their fur or the skin is totally unacceptable. The number one method to STOP this cruel fur/animal skin industries is to educate the public and to spread the word around the globe as much as possible. Until the people stop purchasing these unethical products the greedy industries will keep manufacturing them while murdering the innocent animals every where. Also need to bring forth the new laws to BAN breeding these poor animals for commercial/industrial purpose. The violators should be given stiffer punishments together with heafty fines and long jail terms.

  • Profile photo of kylekylekyle

    521 days ago

    VN:F [1.9.22_1171]


    Is fleece vegan? And if not, what animal would that come from?

    Btw, I have an awesome hoodie made by OP, and it had faux fur. ;D

    • Profile photo of Whitney-C

      519 days ago

      VN:F [1.9.22_1171]


      It depends on which type of fleece, to be honest. There’s wool fleece (which is not vegan) and there’s fleece made from cotton and polyester (which is vegan). Just check the tag on whichever clothing items to be sure!

  • Profile photo of LeahDemain

    527 days ago

    VN:F [1.9.22_1171]


    I know an alpaca farmer, and I know this may not be every farm, but he does by kill his alpacas for their fur. They shear them, and his alpacas have fre range or about 30 acres and 3 shelter barns they can move freely in and out.

  • Profile photo of scandariatoj14

    527 days ago

    VN:F [1.9.22_1171]


    Great Post! It really is not worth the killing of innocent living animals!

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