by Gary Betts

Created on: November 18, 2008   Last Updated: July 18, 2011

I have read a few of the articles written under this title. Most of the writers seem to think that the wearing of fur is immoral because the animals that are bred on fur farms are treated in a cruel fashion. So, those who wear fur must be completely immoral.

If that's the case, what about the people that eat those tender veal steaks? Veal comes from calves that are forced to live their short lives in a box where they cannot move. That's why veal is so tender and expensive. But I don't hear anyone complaining about this cruel treatment. Could it be a double standard?

Is wearing leather immoral? Leather is the skin of cows, like fur is the skin of minks. But I don't see PETA protesting outside a store that sells leather coats. But it seems to be acceptable to those that think wearing fur is immoral. After all, cattle are raised so that we can kill them for those lovely steaks and roasts. Leather is just a by product of a dead cow.

Have you ever seen Japanese ships fish for sharks? They catch the shark, cut off it's fins and then throw the shark back into the ocean alive. Why don't we protest these savage actions? Because it's half a world away, we don't see it and so we don't really care. So the fact that the Japanese are hunting the magnificent whale to extinction is also none of our business. See no evil, hear no evil.

Have you ever been to a North American hunting lodge where the heads of moose, deer, and bears decorate the walls in a grotesque manner? Bear skins lie on the floor. But I guess this is different. These are wild animals and they died quickly. After all, hunting is a sport. It's OK to walk on a bear-fur rug, but you better not wear a mink coat.

What about those tasty lobsters that we buy alive from the east-coast fisheries? After being caught, lobsters have their pinchers taped. Then they are shipped on ice by rail to westerly destinations. Once in grocery stores, lobsters are kept alive in small water tanks. Something like aquariums. Then, after all their suffering, we plunge live lobsters into boiling water. Should we not protest the cruel way lobsters are treated? We probably would if they did not taste so good.

I think all you writers are right. Wearing a fur coat is immoral. So I'm going to put on my leather coat and make my views known to people I find wearing fur. But first, I've got to take my bear-fur rug to the cleaners. Then I've got to go to the restaurant and have surf-and-turf, a tasty red lobster and a tender veal steak. Then I'll go out to find those immoral people wearing fur.

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