If you’re searching for a cozy fur snood or angora sweater this fall season, The Gap is not the place to look. Just two weeks ago, animal rights supporter Sarah Maddox launched a Change.org petition against Gap, Inc., decrying the retailer for selling products containing real fur for its Piperlime label. Maddox said she was outraged to see the retailer pushing items that were made from fur, which is often harvested from animals in a cruel manner. “These innocent creatures are beaten, electrocuted, or have their heads and necks stepped on,” she wrote in the text of the petition. “Animals killed for the fur industry are often skinned alive!”
After writing Gap, Inc. asking them to explain why they would peddle such dubious stock, the retailer wrote back assuring Maddox that their brands don’t use fur, although the labels whose wares they were selling “follow their own policies.” Maddox thought it was a little hypocritical for the company to patronize those who use fur when their own policies go against the very notion. Furthermore, Maddox adds that Piperlime’s stock of fur-laden products didn’t even include the origin of the fur they were selling, which is considered false advertising under the Fur Products Labeling Act.
Gap, Inc. isn’t the only retailer who has had problems with fur sourcing issues. Kohl’s was recently in the news for selling a faux fur jacket that was actually made from the pelt of raccoon dogs. They cited vending issues as the reason for the mix-up, basically stating that their vendors told them they were buying faux fur.
Maddox got over 52,000 people to sign her petition and this weekend, Gap, Inc. made a statement telling customers that they heard their cries and will no longer sell items made from animal fur. “Effective immediately, Piperlime will no longer sell real fur products, whether they are made by our company or not. This is an expansion beyond our existing policy of prohibiting real fur in our branded products,” they wrote. “We are committed to the ethical sourcing of our products, which includes the humane treatment of animals.”
[via Change.org]
