• Following the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Act 2000, the last UK fur farm closed its doors back in 2003, but we're still importing fur cruelty from overseas. The unnecessary suffering of animals for fur fashion is deplorable, whether the animal involved is a cat, a domestic dog or a seal, whose fur is already banned from UK trade by EU regulations, or a coyote, a fox or a raccoon dog, the sale of whose fur is currently still permitted.
• Opinion polls show continually high levels of public disapproval of fur, regardless of species – more than 80% believe that it's unacceptable to buy and sell animal fur in this country. This was debated in Parliament in June 2018 following a government petition reaching well over 109,000 signatures. Labour and the Green Party are committed to ending the importation of all fur into the UK.
• All large retail chains and most high-end fashion labels now have a no-fur policy, meaning that they recognise the strength of public opinion opposing the inherent cruelty of this industry. However, many independent local retailers have been found openly selling cheap unlabelled and mislabelled fur. Some have willingly committed to being electively fur-free having been educated by fur-spotters, while others are remorseless and happy to sell animal pelts of unknown origin.
• We therefore ask Waltham Forest Councillors to do the humane thing and ban the sale of all fur from Walthamstow Market and other independent retailers within the borough.
• Often the cheap fur sold on market stalls and in lower-end shops is banned fur - without DNA testing of every sample by Waltham Forest Trading Standards, consumers are blissfully unaware that they may be buying domestic cat and dog fur. Recent investigations by Humane Society International UK have found even leading retailers duped into selling banned fur items erroneously labelled as "fake fur", such as Missguided having cat fur shoes for sale. This deception from suppliers in countries of origin is sadly rife and intentional; in light of this, the safest option is to ban all real fur.
• Please follow the lead of other markets, such as Camden and Spitalfields, and respect the consensus of the majority of this community who voted for all fur items to be disallowed from local selling groups, including "vintage" and non-CITES/ red listed/ banned species.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/200888
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cat-fur-sold-faux-fake-missguided-shoes-house-of-fraser-shops-humane-society-international-hsi-eu-a7676741.html
https://www.refinery29.uk/2017/12/185846/real-fur-labelled-fake-tk-maxx-boohoo-amazon
http://www.itv.com/news/2018-06-02/should-the-uk-ban-the-sale-of-all-real-animal-fur/
