Hold the label

FUR COMMISSION USA COMMENTARY, JUNE 18, 1998

Hold the Label

By FCUSA Executive Director Teresa Platt

The fur is flying in Beverly Hills over eco-labeling as signature gatherers, ironically armed with press packages swathed in petro-chemical fur, work to qualify an initiative for the city ballot. "Beverly Hills Consumers for Informed Choices," a new group led by a Luke Montgomery, has developed the "Consumer's Right to Informed Choices Act of 1999" to put eco-labels on fur coats sold in Beverly Hills. The "credit card-sized" labels would graphically describe the methods used in the production of the fur. Although the current draft of the proposed initiative does not yet focus on the production of other products sold in Beverly Hills, most people are wondering, "Who's next?"

Animal Rightists

The organizer of this "consumer choice" action is animal rights activist Luke Montgomery,(1) a one-time D.C. mayoral candidate. Montgomery, who had legally changed his name to Luke Sissyfag, achieved U.S. notoriety for heckling President Clinton during a Georgetown University speech on World AIDS Day. While working as a program staffer for Last Chance for Animals, Montgomery/Sissyfag hypocritically promoted the philosophy of animal rights in a world which requires animal research to find a cure for AIDS. According to their website, Last Chance for Animals (LCA) "does not accept a difference in species as justification for wanton exploitation or oppression for any purpose. LCA opposes the use of animals for food, entertainment, clothing, and scientific curiosity. In addition, LCA recognizes the use of non-human animals in experimentation designed to cure human disease as both immoral and of questionable scientific validity."

While supporting conservation and animal welfare, most people reject "animal rights," the philosophy that opposes the direct use of animals for food and clothing (meat/fish and leather/fur, etc.) while supporting the indirect use of animals and their habitat for the production of food and clothing (grains/vegetables and petro-chemical synthetics/cotton, etc.).

Urbanization and agriculture are the leading causes of habitat loss and a variety of animals are killed during agricultural harvests. For example, 90 percent of the ten million pheasants born in the U.S. annually are killed by harvesting machines.

Should we tally up all the birds, rabbits, rodents, snakes, all the animals harmed by agricultural combines, then label salads and tofu "bunny unsafe" as part of some consumer choice concept? Should cotton be labeled, "This product was produced with methods known to injure and kill animals as well as take their habitat?" Should medicine come with a sticker stating, "Brought to you by animal research?" Should condos carry a sign, "Warning! Warning! Habitat loss and animal deaths?" Should sushi have a tag, "This fish was suffocated?" Or is that taking the truth in labeling concept too far?

Who's next?

"Who's next on the animal rights agenda?" asked Keith Kaplan, president of Fur California. "Will each shop in Beverly Hills be forced to attach labels to leather, steak, silk, sushi, cotton, vegetables and medicines? And how much will we have to pay to how many different animal rights groups for these labeling programs?"

From "dolphin safe" to "sustainable" to "organically grown," attempts at eco-labeling have been fraught with controversy and complicated discussions. "Dolphin safe" tuna required five years of work by the world's largest conservation groups to redefine the label to one that actually worked for dolphins, a host of marine creatures and the San Diego-based tuna fleet. Estimated price tag for World Wildlife Fund to monitor their proposed Marine and Forestry Stewardship Councils' "sustainability" labeling program: 1 to 4 percent of gross. That's in addition to the taxes we already pay for government to do the job.

No "one size fits all"

There is no "one size fits all" method for raising and killing animals as there is no "one-size fits all" method for producing grains, timber, minerals or any of the other products consumed by urbanites living in cities like Beverly Hills.

"Each animal species and environmental situation is unique and the methods chosen are continuously evaluated for what is best for the environment and the animals," said Tom Mohoric, fur farmer and president of Fur Commission USA which represents over 600 fur farms scattered across the U.S. "Fur production is already subjected to a spectrum of humane and ecological standards by government, scientists and industry. Our domesticated animals annually recycle over 1 billion pounds of food production byproducts into beautiful garments we are proud for people to wear. Quite simply, the mean-spirited Consumer's Right to Informed Choices Act is designed by animal rightists to harass us and eventually others."

Hold the label

Our impact on animals and the environment is a worthy subject for scientific study and reasoned debate, with rational controls developed by veterinarians, biologists, industry and government. Too many groups attempt to reduce the discussion to trendy eco-labels. For a monitoring fee, of course.

When asked to sign the petition for the "Consumer's Right to Informed Choices Act of 1999," Beverly Hills consumers should just say, "I'm already an informed consumer and these leather boots were made for walking." Then walk on down Rodeo Drive and into the nearest restaurant for sashimi or a steak sandwich. Hold the label.

NOTES:

(1) For more on Montgomery / Sissyfag see:

The Fear of Being Ordinary by Dale Carpenter for the Bay Area Reporter, May 4, 2000.

He's An Oxymoron, Animal People, June 1997.

The Adventures of Luke Sissyfag, Sydney Morning Herald, Mar. 23, 1996.

Teresa Platt is the executive director of Fur Commission USA. She is a founder of the San Diego-based Fishermen's Coalition, serves on the board of the Portland-Oregon based National Animal Interest Alliance and as secretary of Alliance for America, groups working to restore people and common sense to the environmental equation. You can contact Teresa at Fur Commission USA, 826 Orange Avenue, #506, Coronado, CA 92118 USA, (619) 575-0139, (619) 575-5578/fax, furfarmers@aol.com, www.furcommission.com.