A children’s vest made from the skin of two cats being sold in Melbourne has ignited calls for a crackdown on the sale of fur.
A joint investigation by the Animal Justice Party and the Collective Fashion Justice party discovered the origin of the fur found on the vest after it was tested in a lab.
The jacket, likely to be made from the skin of two cats, as well as rabbits, was labelled as 100 per cent ‘Australian sheep skin or Australian wool’.
The vests are being sold by the Suttons UGG chain store.
Two beanies with pom poms labelled as 100 per cent ‘acrylic’ were also tested, with the results revealing they were made from fox and raccoon dog fur.
These beanies were sold at Queen Victoria Market.
British fibre analysis firm Mircrotex carried out the tests ordered by fashion advocacy group Collective Fashion Justice.
Animal Justice Party MP for Northern Victoria Georgie Purcell called for the sale of fur to be banned as she fronted reporters on Thursday.
The jacket, likely to be made from the skin of two cats, as well as rabbits, was labelled as 100 per cent ‘sheep skin’ (the cat fur vest is pictured)
Animal Justice Party MP for Northern Victoria Georgie Purcell (pictured with the vest) called on the state government on the sale of domestic cat fur
‘The message from the community couldn’t be clearer – fur is out of fashion. Whether it’s cat, dog, rabbit, or fox – the one constant is that it’s all cruel,’ she said.
‘The time for regulation is done. The only thing left to do is to completely ban fur, just as other jurisdictions around the world have already done.’
Campaigners have called for a statewide ban on the sale of all animal fur and a blanket ban on fur imports.
They argue consumers are unknowingly purchasing real fur produced in cruel conditions overseas that has been illegally mislabelled.
Businesses can be fined up to $50million and individuals $2.5million, under consumer laws, for making false or misleading claims about products.
Australia banned the import and export of cat and dog fur back in 2004.
The Australian Border Force hasn’t reported a single seizure since the ban came into force over 20 years ago.
The children’s vest was illegally mislabelled as ‘100 per cent Australian sheepskin or Australian wool’ (pictured)
Two beanies sold at Queen Victoria Market with pom poms labelled as 100 per cent ‘acrylic’ were also tested and found to be made from fox and raccoon dog fur (pictured)
Emma Hakansson, the founding director of Collective Fashion Justice, said this wasn’t the first time fur has been illegally mislabelled on items available for purchase in Australia.
‘Every single time we have sent fur for testing the lab has confirmed it was illegally mislabelled and this has been true for years now.’
‘While Victorians will be horrified to know there is cat fur being sold in markets and shopping centres, all fur sales cause unacceptable suffering. No animal should be killed for fashion,’ she said.
‘Victoria’s fashion industry led the way when Melbourne Fashion Week was the first in the world to go totally wildlife free, banning all fur, wild animal skins and feathers.
‘Collective Fashion Justice helped to write this police which is now in place at Australian FW, and in international shows. Now Victoria’s government must lead.’
A spokesperson for Suttons UGG told ABC they had been told by the manufacturer of the vest that it was made from a ‘kind of special fur’.
The company could not ‘100 per cent confirm’ whether the fur included cat.
