August 29, 2004

Hamsters for Fun and Profit

If you fancy a fur, but think mink, fox, sable, beaver, or chinchilla is just a bit too ordinary, there's still time left at the House of Bruar to get your hamster coat. And they're going cheap.

Originally £1,750, the Perthshire retailer has cut the price to move the stock. It seems animal rights activists threw a paddy and the coats were pulled. It also seems the store can't afford to just eat the costs, so they've had to put them back in stock to recoup their investment.

Unfortunately, if you were hoping to look like you belong in a cage running on a wheel, you will be disappointed. The hamster fur is only a lining for a loden coat. (A loden is a "jacket of Tyrolean origin, made of loden cloth, which was first handwoven by peasants living in Loderers, Austria, in the 16th century. The material comes from the coarse, oily wool of mountain sheep and is thick, soft, and waterproof" according to Encyclopaedia Brittanica Online.)

Nevermind - it is a great opportunity for animal rights activists to show pictures of little Syrian hamsters as the face of the fur industry. This has given them an opportunity to exploit the children's news media like CBBC with their message that no creature is made in the image of God and we are all a part of that great monist life continuum.

The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) only seems worried about the way the hamsters were killed. They were gassed and the SSPCA think the only way to kill animals without unnecessary pain is to put them down by injection.

News articles mentioned that it took 100 pelts to make the coat (or coat lining, as is the case). Now, we've had hamsters and even at his biggest, I don't think 100 Humphreys would have lined a large coat. However, it appears that the rodents in question are the size of guinea pigs. The pelts are supplied from Russia.

They say that guinea pigs are good eating. Hence the sign at a local farm park. I wonder what hamster takes like.

Posted by david at August 29, 2004 10:46 PM | TrackBack
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