Pets killed for fur “under nose of EU”

Date: 08/05/03

By Martin Banks

CATS and dogs are being rounded up on the streets of Brussels and slaughtered for their furs - right under the noses of the EU institutions, it is claimed.

In one Belgian furrier's shop, undercover investigators say they purchased a €330 rug made from the skins of 20 cats while, in another, skins with a cat's paws and tail still clearly visible were offered for sale.

A team from the Humane Society International animal welfare group secretly filmed the furriers.

MEP Struan Stevenson, who showed the results of its filming to European Voice, said he was deeply shocked by the footage.

"People should realise how urgent the situation is. This is despicable and should be stopped now," added the Scottish Conservative.

Stevenson will join other MEPs and animal rights campaigners at a news conference in the European Parliament today (8 May) to press for an EU-wide ban on cat and dog fur sales.

The Humane Society had hoped to show the film at the conference, but was advised it could breach the furriers' right to privacy under Belgian law.

In the film, two furriers admit that some of the skins had come from local fur "farms", where cats - domestic pets as well as strays - are slaughtered.

Italy is the only member state to ban the import and sale of cat and dog furs. In the rest of the Union, it is not illegal to sell fur-based products, although fur farming of cats and dogs is a criminal offence. Most of the estimated two million cat and dog pelts imported into the EU come from the Far East.

Stevenson hopes that the evidence of illegal fur farming on the European Commission's own doorstep may persuade it to propose a wholesale ban.

He has now asked David Byrne, the commissioner for consumer affairs, to bring in a ban under the fraudulent trading rules.

Belgian Green MEP Bart Staes said: "It is an obvious cause for real concern if fur farming is going on right under the noses of the EU."

Cats and dogs are being rounded up on the streets of Brussels and slaughtered for their furs - right under the noses of the EU institutions, according to animal welfare group Humane Society International.