Majority opinion : fur morally OK

SANDY PARKER REPORT, VOL. 33, ISSUE 17, JUNE 8, 2009
The following extract is reproduced with permission from Sandy Parker Reports, Weekly International Fur News. Sandy Parker has been covering the fur industry for more than four decades. For most of that time he has published a weekly newsletter, detailing results of international pelt auctions, wholesale price trends, business developments and movements in the trade, as well as economic and political activities that may impact on it.

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International Fur News
with Sandy Parker

Majority opinion : fur morally OK

IN WHAT APPEARS TO BE A CLEAR SETBACK FOR ANIMAL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS, the percentage of Americans who consider the use of fur for clothing as moral showed a substantial increase in the past year. Similarly, people’s attitudes regarding the use of animals for medical testing also has turned more positive. Both issues led a list of 15 social matters and policies in the latest Gallup Poll on “moral acceptability”, of which only four came up more positive than a year ago. Moreover, while the other three gainers advanced only one percentage point each, the fur question moved up seven points.

Although anti-fur activity has been on the wane in recent years and has drawn virtually no media coverage, there still are some scattered protests. Most retailers say it has become a non-issue among their customers, but the respected Gallup Poll appears to confirm what PeTA and other activist organizations fear most: That fewer people are buying their message. In fact, the pendulum may now be swinging in the other direction with the appearance of more stories that are unfavorable to their cause. According to the latest Gallup survey, 61% of the respondents found the use of fur to be morally acceptable, up from 54% last year.

LAST WEEK’S BANKRUPTCY FILING BY GENERAL MOTORS NOT ONLY SENT RIPPLES THROUGHOUT THE FINANCIAL WORLD, but also telegraphed to U.S. furriers in the Detroit area that business may be even more difficult this fall. With the automobile giant announcing it will close 14 more U.S. factories – including seven in Michigan – and cut some 21,000 more jobs, Michigan in effect becomes the epicenter of America’s recession and virtually all retailers in the affected areas are gearing for severe cutbacks in consumer spending. Especially those dealing in luxuries, like furriers.

IN THIS ISSUE:
Majority Opinion: Fur Morally OK
More in U.S. Share View than in ‘08
GM’s Bust Rattles Mich. Furriers
Dollar’s Slide Raises Prices
Blue Fox Up at Finnish Sale

For extracts from back issues of Sandy Parker Reports see News Archive. Subscribers can access an archive of complete issues at www.sandyparker.com.