Refuse the suffering that comes with real fur accessories, says SPCA
SINGAPORE -- While controversial, the demand for real fur continues to fuel demand for some fashion accessories. The SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) says it's concerned about a rise in popularity of handbag charm accessories -- particularly those using real fur.
The SPCA said Monday in a Facebook post that it investigated a sampling of rabbit fur keychains and charms from stores here, and found that the fur used was real.
The SPCA's in-house tests revealed the fur's origins by examining its fibre make-up under a microscope. It added that real fur has tapered ends, while synthetic fur appears to have more chopped off ends.
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Consumers can conduct their own tests in stores. Fake fur feels coarse, while real fur feels smoother; the base of real fur is often made of thinner or shorter layers of hair, whereas fake fur tends to be "simpler in structure" and features hairs of the same length and colour evenness, the SPCA said in a guide.
Some manufacturers are capitalising on the rising trend of handbag charms by relying on cheaper fur from rabbits to offer genuine fur to consumers. Last year, rabbit fur was spotted on the runway across several designer brands, and the bag charm trend continues to pick up steam.
Brand name stores sell some of these bag charms for hundreds of dollars, but there are also vendors on online stores here purporting to sell genuine rabbit fur charms as cheaply as S$9.50 ($7).
The SPCA noted that the fur trade often subjects animals to poor living conditions as they are farmed for their coats. "Fur is often obtained with much animal suffering and in Singapore, there is simply no excuse to wear fur, even as an accessory."
It added: "Refuse this symbol of excessive cruelty."
Victoria Ho is Mashable's Asia Editor, based in Singapore. She previously reported on news and tech at The Business Times, TechCrunch and ZDNet. When she isn't writing, she's making music with her band
