12th October 2012 - SYDNEY - Humane Society International (HSI) is delighted to announce
that from this year every Myer store will cease the sale of real fur products
across Australia! HSI would like to
congratulate them on this historic move which will help to preserve the lives
and end the suffering of some of the millions of animals who fall victim to the
trade.
Ms Verna Simpson, HSI Director said “We would like to thank
Myer for adopting an official policy to stop selling fur across all of their
stores nationally! This message is now
very clear – if you do not want to support cruelty in fashion you can now shop
with confidence at any Myer store, Australia wide.”
Ms Jo Lynch, Myer’s General Manager Corporate Affairs commented
“Myer is committed to building a socially responsible business and we do not
condone the use of fur obtained by cruel means.
We appreciate that there are different views on the use of fur sourced
by any means; however, we also acknowledge that community views on the use of
fur in merchandise have changed, regardless of the source of that fur.” Ms Lynch continued, “We have recently
reviewed our sale of fur policy and a 'no fur' policy will be implemented at Myer,
effective immediately.”
This major move forward for animal welfare was advanced by
the shocking exposé presented on the George Negus show last October, which
showed graphic undercover footage of intolerable cruelty in Asia used to
produce fur products, where pets are even stolen for the trade. Last year evidence was also released that
products containing dog and cat fur were reaching well-known high-street
retailers here in Australia. Ms Verna
Simpson, HSI Director said “I am sure you find it as intolerable as we do that
your new fur vest or collar could contain fur from someone's beloved pet! The safest policy for shoppers is to avoid
buying any fur products at all.” Ms
Simpson continued “Our website now provides a comprehensive list of ethical
retailers to help customers, and prevent them from unknowingly buying into such
a cruel trade. It’s wonderful news that
Myer are now part of this movement.”
As the Government has failed to improve labelling laws to
specify species of origin, it is impossible to know whether the product
contains fur from a domestic cat or dog.
Fur is often mislabelled as rabbit, with no species specified at all, or
even as faux fur, because the Asian markets are well aware that we are unlikely
to buy fur from domestic pets. But with
the news that Myer have now pledged to sell no fur at all, customers can rest
assured that they are safe to shop in any Myer store without inadvertently
contributing towards severe animal cruelty.
Ms Simpson said “The public response to this issue in the
past has been overwhelming, attracting by far the largest outcry of all the
animal causes HSI has ever championed. Australian consumers certainly don’t
want dog and cat fur products and most Australian retailers do not want to be
at risk of selling it. We are delighted
to have the support from Myer. It is
vital that the Minister intervenes and ensures the gaps allowing these illegal
products onto the Australian market are closed immediately, and tighter
labelling laws, to protect both consumers and retailers, must be enacted as
soon as possible.”
This is an important issue to hundreds of
thousands of Australians but Border Protection has shown little interest. Although dog and cat fur continues to breach
our borders, they remain unmoved and in fact do not even have staff trained to
identify the prohibited fur. We would
like to give you an update on how they plan to respond to the huge orders
placed for the Australian market for 2013, but they have ceased correspondence. In light of their inertia we would like to
thank Myer for their support of cruelty free fashion and we will now work with
the other retailers to encourage them to follow suit.
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