BELGIUM has banned the import or sale of fur from cats, dogs and seals in response to pre-Christmas protests by animal welfare campaigners.
Green Party Euro-MP Jean Lambert welcomed the decision,
and called on the
UK to follow suit. The London MEP said: "The UK must
follow Belgium's example by banning
this particularly cruel and despicable
trade immediately."
Mrs Lambert said: "Cats and dogs are suffering appalling cruelty to satisfy the European market for cheap fur, must of which is sold to consumers who haven't the faintest idea what they are buying.
"In some cases the cats and dogs are hanged, and in some cases are skinned
alive, according to evidence presented to the European Parliament by undercover
investigators last May. This flies in the face of animal welfare standards - not
to mention common decency - and the trade must be
banned in the UK, and the
rest of the EU, without delay."
Belgium's ban, which was announced earlier this week, follows Italy's decision to ban the trade in cat and dog fur last year - but makes it the first EU state to ban the trade in seal fur.
Opponents have argued a UK ban could fall foul of free trade rules unless it is
backed by an EU-wide ban, but neither Italy nor Belgium have been subject to complaints
to the WTO. More than two million cats and dogs a year are slaughtered by fur
exporters in China alone, much of the fur
destined for toys and clothes sold
as 'rabbit fur' in European street markets.
ENDS
For more information please contact Ben Duncan on 020 7407 6280, 07973 823358 or at press@greenmeps.org.uk