Plans for a Europe-wide ban on the sale of cat and dog fur have been unveiled in an attempt to stem a tide of Chinese and Far East imports which use animal products for coat and boot linings, pom-poms, and even toys.
The move was welcomed by campaigners who say as many as two million cats and dogs are slaughtered each year to fuel the trade.
Celebrities have fronted the campaign to demand a ban, including Rick Wakeman and Heather Mills McCartney, who broke down in tears in Brussels at the screening of a video showing animal skins being stripped from them live. At present, 15 EU governments including the France, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Spain and Poland have national bans although these are drafted differently, hence the need for legislation covereing the whole of the EU.
Markos Kyprianou, the European health and consumer protection commissioner, told journalists he had received 10,000 e-mails and a 200,000-signature petition on the trade.
He said that all 25 nations will have detection controls so the fur cannot be imported, even when it has been treated or dyed. Mass spectrometry and DNA tests have proved dog and cat fur marketed as synthetic has been imported into Europe in a range of products.
Mr Kyprianou said: «Cats and dogs in the EU are considered companion animals and nothing else and we have no tradition of using these animals for their fur.» He added: «The idea of young children playing with toys using cat and dog fur is something we just cannot accept.»
