Fur worse, fur worse

First, I would like to thank you for carrying the story on the anti-fur design contest ["Hitting Below the Pelt," Nov. 25]. I didn't see it mentioned in any other Montreal newspaper, and your story helped to raise awareness about the fur industry. I would say, though, that Lucas Solowey's letter to the editor in your Dec. 2 paper ["Fur better or fur worse"] exposed the cruelty behind the industry better than the story did, which had no mention of the actual animals who die from fur. It seems that the Fur Council of Canada would like us to believe that fur grows on trees.

I am writing this to expose the identity of the author of the second letter you printed. I understand that it's important to print both views of the issue, but J. Filion is actually Jean-Hugo Filion and he works for the Fur Council of Canada. I thought his arguments sounded familiar and I understood why when I saw the name. You see, until recently, Jean and I were in the midst of a debate, by e-mail, and I stopped the correspondence because he refused to directly talk about the animals' suffering. He tried to get me to debate about other issues like animal testing and the merits of PETA.

The Fur Council has done a good job of training their workers to never mention the actual animals who are the real victims in this trade. Jean's favourite motto was, "Sustainable use of renewable resources." It is impossible to get an unbiased opinion from someone who directly profits from the sale of fur. I tried to get Jean to be honest with me and to admit that he really doesn't care about the animals and this is business to him. He refused to tell me the truth and threw the "but what about the humans" argument at me. I don't understand that one: how does the unnecessary vanity of humanity stop us from treating our fellow animals with compassion and respect? I can't believe that in 2004 people still think that wearing a dead animal's skin is fashionable!

The Fur Council of Canada only survives because of consumers' ignorance about where their products really come from, and they will continue to do their best to cover up the real truth behind fur. I bet most of those suits have never even been to a fur farm, and would be sick to their stomachs if they ever did go.

» No animal cruelty, aka "nac"

We activists are well educated about today's society and we know well about ecology. I am outraged with today's society and how they treat animals, mainly in the United States. I think we should treat animals like we treat human beings. You would not put hundreds of human beings in tiny crammed cages like you do to these animals and then slaughter them and eat them or skin them and sell their fur. It's morally wrong and unjustified. How would you like it if an animal skinned you and wore you as a coat or killed you and ate you as food?

Furthermore, why is it legal to kill animals but not human beings? We are all mammals and should be on this Earth to live, not to die for the fur industry or be tortured in plants where animals are left to suffer. I say go PETA and go activists all over this world who support this cause of helping animals instead of torturing them. Wear your own darn fur!

» Fidaa el-Samrout

Nada on Buy Nothing Day

I was disappointed by the lack of Buy Nothing Day coverage in the Mirror this year. I was much more impressed by the Concordia Link, which not only had a whole issue devoted to consumerism, but also a funny article on a theatrical performance in the recently installed Starbucks in the Hall Building. I hope to see better coverage in the future.

» Stan

Infringement riposte!

It looks like Jeremy Hechtman is not in the habit of tearing up his angry letters after he's written them. Perhaps he will consider it in the future, since his vitriolic, nonsensical rant succeeds mainly in making him look bad ["Fringe fires back," Dec. 2].

Suggesting that the Infringement guys join the Republican Party is particularly ridiculous, given the capitalist direction the Fringe has gone in. There was a time when all Fringe festival tickets had to be bought at the venue. Now they can be advance-ordered by phone, with a credit card. The percentage of tickets reserved for sale at the venue keeps getting smaller. As a result, it has become almost impossible to buy tickets to a hit show at the venue. Though the Fringe was originally based on egalitarian ideals, now it favours people with credit cards.

It is because the Fringe has lost its original spirit that there is a need for an Infringement festival.

» Vivian Unger

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