On another thread Jen13kd has reported that wild mink are eating all the ducklings on the River Don. Other posters report that they are killing the fish and voles too.

So, if they were culled to protect and enhance the balance of other wildlife on the river would you wear a coat made from the wild minks?

No sorry I won't.

My only reason is that it still advertisers the wrong impression for Mink Farmers - I say this even though i'd wear a leather jacket. Hypoxcritical some may say but if you understand what i'm saying you'll realise it aint hypocritical.:suspect:

So, if they were culled to protect and enhance the balance of other wildlife on the river would you wear a coat made from the wild minks?

Absolutely ! But then again, I would be happy to wear a mink coat regardless as to whether it was farmed or wild. I don't discriminate when eating salmon, farmed or wild, so why should I with mink? I wonder if they casserole well, the mink I mean.........:hihi:

I think it's a vile idea, wearing the fur that grew to go around a little creature. But, there again, it's a pretty vile idea to eat an animal when one (some of us) stops to think of it, or to drink the milk that a mammal is producing to nourish its own baby. Or to wear the skin of an animal on our feet or to carry over our arms to put things into.

Hang on while I finish enjoying my bacon sandwich.....

I think I need to tick the 'it makes my brain hurt' option, and move on quickly before I think too much!

*Ticked the 'no' option, it wasn't that difficult really. :)

No - I find fur massively abbhorrent. Parading around in another animal's skin. Eurgh.

I don't kill anything with a face as I have no need or reason to. I live quite happily in my plastic shoes and eating veggies.

And before the anti veggie squad come out in their thousands, if the only thing to eat was you, you'd get considered before my cats, more meat on you. :hihi:

This may change some peoples mind about wearing fur, fur farming etc...

Not for the overly sensitive

Thanks for posting that Sarahlorna. Note how the animal was still alive when being skinned!

People who wear real animal fur make me sick! I make no apologies for my views.

It is an action purely for reasons of vanity/fashion/status and absolutely nothing else. Hardly comparible with something killed so that we can eat.

What was the campaign?

'Fur is worn by beautiful animals...and ugly people'

Nuff said.

Was my link removed?

Can i be given a reason why, did i break a rule somehow?

Was my link removed?

Can i be given a reason why, did i break a rule somehow?
Didn't get to see it sarahlorna but Im guessing it was a little brutal. :(

It is a bit silly to say that all people who wear animal fur make you sick. This would mean that all the Inuit people should all buy nylon anoraks and plastic boots instead and be nice to the wildlife.

I eat all kinds of meats and yet I find it distateful when I see real fur coats. Why is that? What is the difference between farming pigs so I can have a bacon sandwich and farming mink so I can have a coat? In my view the wild mink have to be culled. If we do this then why not put the bodies to some use. Let's not forget that they probably got into the wild because some animal activists (many of who are terrorists) let them go, thereby letting them kill UK wildlife.

I would have fallen foul of our 'family friendly' rules as it was basically an animal snuff movie.

In any case, it was a bit off topic as we aren't talking about farmed mink here. The question posed is about mink that are killed as part of a cull for ecological reasons - quite different.

I wouldn't wear wild mink but after reading this I do feel a bit sorry for ratty:

"PLANS to prevent the extinction of the British water vole - forever famous as Rattie in the Wind in the Willows - will fail unless there is a nationwide cull of its most vicious predator, the wild mink, says the Game Conservancy Trust.

However, voles are rarely seen on many Yorkshire Dales waterways, like the rivers Wharfe and Aire or the long loop on the Leeds-Liverpool canal, because the area has a large and active population of wild mink.

Like many of Britain's worst pests, the mink was introduced from North America by fur farmers but thousands were released by animal rights activists from the 1960s onwards. Since then, they have bred like wildfire, preying not only on water voles but on river bank birds like kingfishers, sand martins and many water fowl species.

Although the Game Conservancy welcomes the Inland Waterways initiative, it says the Rattie cannot be saved without a massive cull of mink."

I would have fallen foul of our 'family friendly' rules as it was basically an animal snuff movie.

In any case, it was a bit off topic as we aren't talking about farmed mink here. The question posed is about mink that are killed as part of a cull for ecological reasons - quite different.

Fair enough, if i child somehow clicked on the link it wouldnt be nice!

I was just trying to make people aware of what happened in Fur Farms, especially because there seemed to be a couple of people who didnt care,...i just hoped i would change their views

Thanks,

Sarah

Your well meaning intentions were noted saralorna. It's just that it's obviously a sensitive link on a family site like SF. If anyone wants to see it they can no doubt PM you now. :)

Ecological fur coat is an oxymoron.

I would have fallen foul of our 'family friendly' rules as it was basically an animal snuff movie.

In any case, it was a bit off topic as we aren't talking about farmed mink here. The question posed is about mink that are killed as part of a cull for ecological reasons - quite different.

Damn! Foiled by your own rules! :P

If anyone would be interested in seeing the Peta video, then let me know and i will pm the link....

Its not nice but it certainly makes you realise what goes on!

Ecological fur coat is an oxymoron.

"Ecological" means helping the environment though doesn't it, killing the minks will be helping the environment, won't it, so it's an ecological act, isn't it ?

It is a bit silly to say that all people who wear animal fur make you sick. This would mean that all the Inuit people should all buy nylon anoraks and plastic boots instead and be nice to the wildlife.

Why not, the Inuit are pretty stupid for living in such inhospitable climes, they've only been living there 1000 years or so, maybe it's time for them to move south, eat some vegetables and start living beyond 40!

Since they are quite edible how about if they were farmed for their meat? Would a mink coat be acceptable then?

Minks are nasty little predators so I wouldn't have any compunction about having them culled. And once they're dead, what is the point, if we don't use whatever we can? Surely it makes some sense of their lives to be made into a garment?

I donated my furs to an earthquake appeal in Russia, but I didn't really want to. However, there were too many people about willing to throw paint all over you in those days :(

Personally I don't like fur coats, so I've never had to worry about the moral implications of wanting to wear one - I never wanted to.

Personally, I don't like fur coats which is why I would never wear one, rather than because of ethical issues. A bit of fur trim can look nice, would I wear mink trim? Most probably.

Is it national "dig up old threads day" today ??

Why pick on Mink anyway ?

Is it because they are Black ??

What an interesting old thread that Tony (the OP) has restarted.

I am a meat eater. I have no ethical problems about animals being farmed in order for me to eat their meat.

I wear leather shoes and own a leather jacket. The shoes keep my feet dry and the jacket keeps my body warm. I have no ethical problems in animals being killed for me to wear their skin.

I also own a leather settee. I have no ethical problems in animals being killed to enable me to sit in comfort in my own home.

Can anyone therefore explain to me what is the difference in farming animals for their fur, or, in keeping with the subject of this thread, killing non-native mink predators to preserve our native wildlife - and using their fur for coats?

If there is an ethical difference, can someone please explain what it is?