PHOTO - I just don't get it, how someone could see this beautiful animal and think "pelt."

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Illegal Wildlife Poaching: 7 Species Endangered By Internet Trade (PHOTOS)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/13/illegal-wildlife-poaching_n_681410.html#s119178



Ocelots are another exotic species known to be kept as house pets, though Mongabay.com reports that Amazon populations are also sought after for their pelts, along with jaguars and other animals of the jungle.

[and-justice-for-all]

1. ah...Ich leiben alles die Katzen!!!

Poachers and people who contribute to this sick trade should be strung up and quartered.

[sandnsea]

2. 100 years ago they thought "warm"

Over a period of time, they thought furry and pretty.

The peculiar thing, really, is finding something weird about staying warm with an animal pelt.

Of course, I realize that they're endangered and it's not necessary to use them for warmth anymore. For that reason, ONLY, we need to stop killing them for their skin. Othewise, it's no different than wearing sheepskin or wool or leather or anything else that comes from animals.

[Maru Kitteh]

4. I despise all of those unnecessary practices equally. n/'t

[sandnsea]

5. Staying warm in 1750?

You despise that??

I don't think cotton and hemp can keep you warm in 30 below weather. Some sort of chemically engineered fabric might, but nothing organic that I can think of. Nothing that doesn't come from an animal anyway. You despise down too?

[csziggy]

12. Wool is an excellent insulator and makes for very warm clothing

Felted wool is even better since the weave is tightened so there are few openings for air circulation.

When people were simply using furred pelts for warmth, they did not use those of animals like feline species since most felines do not have the right kind of fur for real warmth. Those have almost always been used for status symbols.

And in fact, fur used mostly for warmth and not for appearance is usually turned fur inwards rather than fur outwards. Look at the shearling coats that ranchers wear - all the fur is turned inwards to provide airspace and the leather surface is outwards to ward off the elements and act as barrier.

[sandnsea]

15. That would be when they thought "warm"

After a period of time they thought "pretty and furry", or as you stated "status symbols".

The point is that there isn't a person on this board that wouldn't kill something and use its pelt for warmth if they had to for survival.

It's one thing to want to protect the animals from extinction. The holier than thou attitude, I can do without.

[csziggy]

18. But the problem is the creatures that are being killed for use as status symbols

Because I cannot imagine that someone who really needs to stay warm is hunting down rare cat species in the jungles of Central America where ocelots live.

I do not object to the use of animal skins for practical purposes. I've owned one of those shearling coats, wear leather shoes and boots, have leather saddles and bridles for my horses. I even have a large fur "rug" to use when driving horses in cold weather - it was claimed to be a pony hide but I am pretty sure it is a cow hide.

With all the cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and other animals that are killed for their meat, I do not see any reason to kill exotic, endangered species for their pelts. If someone wants an exotic look, it is easy enough to dye common skins to look like rare species. I'd love to see the people who want to profit from the desire of a few to have the status symbols hoax them with counterfeit hides!

[sandnsea]

19. "how could someone think pelt"

That was the question in the OP, and I answered it. Some people still see animals in that way. It's their livelihood. Like people who continue to cut down old growth. I want them to stop, but I'm not going to condemn them morally for trying to support their family.

[Fumesucker]

24. Staying warm isn't that much of a problem in the Amazon..

Generally it's just the opposite.

[csziggy]

37. But when their jungles and their way of life is destroyed

How are those people supposed to survive?

I understand the pressures on the people who do the hunting - they may not know or realize the implications of killing the few animals each of them does. They can make a lot of money for their families - at least it probably seems like a lot of money to them.

That is why my condemnation is for the people who use the pelts as status symbols or decoration. If it is just the appearance, as I said above common skins can be died to look like any kind of exotic skin and most of the consumers would never know the difference. It is the dealers, smugglers and sellers who support the chain to the top tiers that I would like to see pursued and punished. Those at the top seem immune to prosecution or pressure, but if we make it too expensive for the middle men to induce the poachers to hunt the animals, that might make a dent.

Currently, it seems that most pressure is at each end - on those at the top who buy and who don't give a shit. And on those who are just trying to survive and feed their families. We need a different strategy.

[Desertrose]

10. You don't have to kill sheep to get their wool....nt

[sandnsea]

13. It's still animal fur

I said we shouldn't be killing these animals because they're endangered.

[knitter4democracy]

36. There are other environmental issues with wool, though.

Most wool available commercially here in the US is from Australia. It's raised in Australia, shorn there, shipped to China to be scoured and carded (or processed for whatever purpose), and then that wool is shipped to places like Turkey, South Africa, Italy, Germany, the few mills left in the US, or to other places in China to be turned into a final product (whatever that may be--blended roving, yarn, fabric, etc.). That product is then shipped all over the world to wherever orders it, from Europe to the US, and then that product is shipped to the store for the consumer to buy.

That's why more and more of us knitters are trying to buy only American fiber as much as possible, if just to cut down on the petroleum use. Those of us who spin our own yarn as well tend to buy our wool locally, too, cutting down the environmental impact even further.

[Cleita]

41. I'm trying to learn to spin, not too successfully. But

when I do, my friend, a rancher up the road from me has llamas that her family shears and sells the wool from. I will get some wool from her. I think I can get some sheep's wool and alpaca locally too. Lately, I have been taking apart old sweaters and other knitted items to reuse the yarn for new knitted items.

[knitter4democracy]

42. Are you on Ravelry.com?

There are tons of resources on there for spinners as well. If you look under "spinning" on the group page, you'd be amazed what comes up. Local farms are often on there, too.

[Cleita]

45. No I'm not.

Thanks for the URL. I will look into it.

[LostinVA]

26. People in the Amazon didn't need fur to stay warm

And Arctic explorers didn't wear ocelot fur to explore frigid climes. And, NO ONE needs to wear fur now to stay warm, and haven't for a very, very long time. Like someone else said down thread: wool is actually a much better thing to wear to keep you warm, specifically because of it's "wicking" ability when it's wet.

[PassingFair]

33. Barbaric.

http://cgi.ebay.com/WOODCHUCK-SKIN-HIDE-PELT-FUR-RUG-TAXIDERMY-DRIED-/130420538972


No matter HOW high fashion!

[ZombieHorde]

3. Recommended, people should not being killing mice to make pelts.

Mice are so small that many many mice are needed just to make one garment.

[tomm2thumbs]

44. +1

funny

[LooseWilly]

6. Hmm... that cute little thing looks like my shoes...

Imagine that.

[patrice]

7. Oh my!!!

:loveya:

[Major Hogwash]

8. Pic of the day!

Maybe.

I don't see how anyone can even think of wearing furs in this day and age of manufactured prints.

If someone wanted a spotted coat, it could be made out of man-made materials just as easy.
And keep the animals safe at the same time.

[Lorien]

14. Indeed. The inhumanity and selfishness of the extremely vain

is completely beyond comprehension.

[Odin2005]

9. Poachers are scum who should be shot on sight.

Their heads should be displayed on poles as a warning.

[miso corny]

48. What about "regular" hunters and others who raise mink and cattle

to use for meat and leather, fur?

[Odin2005]

49. Not comparable.

Mink and cattle are not rare, endangered animals.

[pansypoo53219]

11. they SEE

money.

[Rhiannon12866]

16. Awwww! Very cute... Look at that face!

This little guy is adorable, but I'm not sure I'd want him for a house pet as an adult... :scared:

[Merlot]

17. And I don't see how they could thing "house pet"

It's really cruel to keep big cats as animal pets. They don't live the life they should. They aren't house cats. And when they grow up and the 20 lbs of raw meat each day, and the danger factor gets to be to much, then what happens? they get abandoned or sold into "hunts" which I hear are big in texas.

[Catherina]

20. Profit over life, feelings and love. Very sad. +1 n/t

[krispos42]

21. I think one day, when we get organ-growing genetic technology down pat...

...we'll see people working on growing animal pelts in a petri dish. I mean, if a few stem cells and some gene-manipulation can grow into a human liver, why not grow a mink pelt?

I can't think of any ethical questions offhand... no animal dies, no meat is wasted, no animal is caged or maltreated, and no pain or suffering is generated.

[HopeHoops]

22. Put Palin in a helicopter and that kitten is history.

That mouse looks both real and alive. Isn't that a bit weird? In my house, it would live about 10 minutes, tops. The girls (cats) like to toy with them before sending them to see God.

[hlthe2b]

23. I like 'em a bit bigger

Gorgeous! (as long as they aren't ready to pounce on ya) ;)

[Vinca]

25. Recently I learned that someone I used to work with who is an avid hunter

came into a fortune by inheritance and now he and his wife spend their time going on safaris killing wild animals which they then have stuffed and displayed in their newly built mansion. Supposedly there is a spacious room devoted to it. I knew he wasn't Mother Theresa, but the thought of shooting an elephant for sport just to mount its head makes me physically ill.

[hobbit709]

28. He's a trophy hunter, not a real hunter

A real hunter kills for food and eats what he kills.

[tuckessee]

31. Our local electric co-op magazine did an article about a guy like that.

http://www.kentuckyliving.com/article.asp?articleid=2939&issueid=350

They laud him as a hero.

Unfortunately the web article doesn't show the pics but this ass's goal in life is to kill one of every living creature.

He has even killed an ostrich and a giraffe! Has them all stuffed & mounted so he bask in the glory of what a real man he is.

[Vinca]

38. I think the guy I was talking about has a similar mindset.

What a bunch of sickos. I really don't get it. It makes you root for the man-eating beasts of the world.

[unblock]

27. never heard of a mouse pelt but to each his own, i guess

:evilgrin:

[Amerigo Vespucci]

29. Wrong beautiful animal, tough guy...

:rofl:

:toast:

[cliffordu]

30. Wonder what that mouse is thinking....

[mrs_p]

32. probably something along the lines of

'Oh Shit'

[Odin2005]

50. I thought the same thing!

:rofl:

[backwoodsbob]

34. I've posted this story before.

`when I used to deliver papers in Westland Michigan I got out of the car one morning to drop a paper and about 100 feet away in the road was what I thought was BY FAR the biggest housecat I ever saw.

I called the cops and told them they will think I'm nuts but explained what I saw.The dispatcher laughed and asked where it was.Turned out to someones Ocelot that had escaped a few days earlier and they had been looking for it.

ABSOLUTELY scared the hell out of me.

[kaiden]

35. My mother had an ocelot jacket when she was in high school in '43.

Subsequently, I wore it (it was very tattered) for a while when I was in high school (1969) -- because I was a jerk, ignorant, and environmentalism wasn't exactly an issue in Southeast Kansas (and it still isn't).

I regret so much that an animal that beautiful had to die so my mother could be fashionable.

I worked with a woman lawyer whose family raised and electrocuted chinchillas for a living. They did this up until her father retired in the '80s. I don't know how you'd ever get over something like that.

[mistertrickster]

39. I used to trap muskrats, skin them, and sell their pelts. It was good money for a

high school kid.

The last year I tried trapping, some goody-two shoes PETA-type pulled and stole all my traps. So I had to quit.

Ironically, within three or four years after I was forced to quit, every last muskrat died or left the millrace I trapped.

Overpopulation? Disease? I have no idea.

But they just aren't there any more. . .

[flvegan]

40. It's simple. People are selfish.

[Dappleganger]

43. When I look at my chinchillas it's hard to imagine

anyone wanting to skin them for their coats. They have made great pets and have been a part of our family for years (we only get rescue chinnies).

[AnArmyVeteran]

46. Some people are very sick...

They will have a special place in hell for their cruelty.

[Lagomorph]

47. He's coming right at us!!! - nt

[Fla_Democrat]

51. it's too small to think

meat. :evilgrin:

[BrklynLiberal]

52. Every other creature on this planet was put here merely to serve the needs of man.....

Were you not aware of this??????????

:crazy: :silly: :grr: :cry: :sarcasm: