After trying for weeks and weeks to get some answers regarding the fur trim used on these boots (refresher: they were listed as ocelot but then the MB rep said they were rabbit), I saw yesterday that the Humane Society was also focusing their attention on the questionable fur used.
Well, finally there have been updates and progress! Per the AP:
Neiman Marcus: mistake led to ‘ocelot’ descriptor
(AP) – 14 hours ago
DALLAS — Neiman Marcus says an editing mistake led to some women’s boots being described on Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman Web sites as trimmed with the fur of an endangered species.
Neiman Marcus spokeswoman Ginger Reeder says the Dallas-based company is looking into the matter. The Humane Society of the U.S. on Wednesday said it was asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate.
The Humane Society says fur from an ocelot, a wild cat with tawny fur and black spots, would be illegal to sell under the Endangered Species Act.
Reeder says Neiman has pulled the boots off the market pending an investigation. She says it appears the trim actually is goat hide dyed with an ocelot print.
The Humane Society’s Pierre Grzybowski says they still would like the FTC to investigate.
The FTC did not immediately return a call for comment Wednesday.
I am sooo happy to hear there is going to be an investigation into these boots. It proves that there are shady practices going on, especially in the fur industry. Basically, you can never be sure where and what kind of fur is being used, because even high-end products and retailers are not going to disclose that information. In this instance it may be goat skins but most of the time it’s cats, dogs and rabbits. And because of how most products in the fashion world (even those labeled as Made in Italy or where ever – a whole other post… just read Deluxe) are made in China, if you are buying something with fur you are supporting horrific abuses.
Every year, millions of individual animals, including more than 2 million cats and hundreds of thousands of dogs, are killed for their fur in China. Some are strays, and countless others are companions who once shared homes with people who loved and cared for them before the animals were rounded up—often with metal tongs around their necks—and tossed, screaming, into a crate.
China is one of the world’s largest fur suppliers, and more than 95 percent of the country’s finished garments are exported—with many ending up in North America. And as we now know, Chinese companies have been known to deliberately mislabel cat and dog fur as “Asian jackal,” “rabbit,” or “raccoon” to fool consumers. Every fur-trimmed collar or other fur item from China, regardless of the kind of animal slaughtered to manufacture it, is the product of cruelty on a truly massive scale.
As I’ve said before. I detest fur. Plus, how can you ever wear something that came from sweet babies like my Tulip and Petal…
If you are buying fur you are taking animals like my baby Petal here and having them killed for something completely unnecessary and, in the case of these boots, ugly as hell.
Make contributions to the Humane Society, PETA, Compassion over Killing or World Society for the Protection of Animals to help stop these abuses.
Shoe Daydreams 