Melissa Slack is an eco-vegan designer on Etsy.com (She Lives On Love Street) who noticed an uptake in fur selling on Etsy, and decided to do something about it. She’s started a petition to ETSY Chief Executive Officer Josh Silverman to make a fur-free Etsy. Here’s her story;
Please Join Me in Asking Etsy’s New CEO Josh Silverman to Ban The Sale of Fur and ADOPT A FUR-FREE POLICY ON ETSY.COM!
Etsy is an online global marketplace focused on small-business accessory makers, handmade/vintage items, and craft supplies. It’s often surprising to see the sheer variety of high-quality stuff available on Etsy that hasn’t come from a big market brand. But many artisans are getting their hands on things like 3D printers, giant sewing machines, and CO2 Lasers to name a few. You can get personalized anythings from numberplates to chopsticks which makes Esty a great place to get wedding gifts, home deco items, and more.
With all that said, I was shocked and deeply saddened to discover the sale of fur on such a beloved website. There is absolutely NOTHING artistic or fashionable about fur. It is horrifyingly cruel and unnecessary.
– Each year more than 100 Million animals are killed for fur. Including mink, fox, coyote, sable, raccoon dog, rabbit, chinchilla and more.
– 95% percent of fur comes from fur factory farms. To preserve the pelts animals are killed by cruel methods, such as gassing or anal electrocution. Also, the stress from living in tiny wire cages causes serious welfare problems, such as self-mutilation, infected wounds, and cannibalism.
– Each year over 5 Million animals are caught in cruel traps. This barbaric equipment includes snares, conibear traps, and steel jaw leghold. Millions of ‘non-target animals’ are accidentally trapped, including dogs, cats and endangered species.
– Fur is not natural but a highly chemical product. Fur trims contain formaldehyde and ethoxylates that can cause allergies, cancer and hormonal imbalance. Due to animal feed and emissions from manure the carbon footprint of fur is 28x higher than polyester. Source: www.furfreeretailer.com/why-fur-free
TOGETHER, WITH YOUR SIGNATURE CLICK, WE CAN HELP MAKE ETSY.COM FUR-FREE!!
Thank You for your compassion, loving kindness, and wisdom.
Please consider sharing on all social media sites, exposure is vital!
Letter to ETSY CEO Josh Silverman
Dear Mr. Silverman,
My name is Melissa and I am reaching out to you today with love and abundant hope that you will take this moment to read my letter with openness, compassion, and true consideration.
Firstly, I must begin by expressing my deepest gratitude for being a part of the Etsy online community. I have been an Etsy seller and shopper for over six years. The level of creative genius on Etsy inspires me daily and I adore connecting with my customers and fellow Etsy sellers, many with whom have spontaneously flowered into beautiful friendships!
Recently, while browsing through Etsy’s Search for shop supplies I was shocked and extremely saddened to see real fur being sold. I had absolutely assumed that an online global marketplace as friendly, wise, and freshly innovative as Etsy would already have a complete ban on the sale of fur, especially in year 2017. Fur is cruel and unnecessary.
Did you know?
– Worldwide each year more than 100 million animals are killed on fur farms after short and miserable lives in small wire mesh battery cages, only for fashion. Including mink, coyote, sable, fox, muskrat, rabbit, chinchillas, raccoon dogs and more.
source: www.furfreealliance.com
– 1 Billion rabbits are killed each year so that their fur can be used in clothing or for lures in fly-fishing or trim on craft items.
– In China, more than 2 million cats and hundreds of thousands of dogs are bludgeoned, hanged, bled to death, and often skinned alive for their fur.
– Fur farms harm the environment. One million pounds of feces are produced annually by U.S. mink farms alone. One dangerous component of this waste is nearly 1,000 tons of phosphorus, which pollutes nearby rivers and streams.
– Electrocuting fur-bearing animals anally and genitally is an agonizing slaughter method used frequently to limit damage to fur.
source: www.peta.org/features/nine-shocking-fur-factsMr. Silverman, there is Nothing fashionable or artistic in harming another being. Not for any dollar amount. I am certain that countless of Etsy shoppers worldwide would truly love supporting, feel inspired by, and appreciate a kinder fur-free Etsy! As the new CEO of Etsy you have an extraordinary opportunity to help end horrific suffering by implementing a fur ban today. I do not wish to force, guilt, or judge, all I’m asking is for you to be still inside your own heart for a moment and feel what is right. Gain deeper understanding, insight, and make a choice in that truth and space.
I hope that with each supportive signature this letter/petition receives on change.org is a clear definitive Yes to adopting a fur-free policy on Etsy.com.
I encourage you to learn more about the fur industry by visiting The Fur Free Alliance www.furfreealliance.com and checking out an enormous list of fur-free retailers at www.furfreeretailer.comThank you kindly for your time and attention.
Yours in Compassion,
Melissa Slack
*In June 2017, Yoox Net-a-Porter announced it was going fur-free.
