Sean "Diddy"
Combs’ Sean John fashion line has come under fire, after The Humane Society of
the United States (HSUS) determined that a Sean John jacket that was advertised
as using "faux fur" contained real fur from a canine species.Last
week, The HSUS released the results of a mass spectometry test conducted on a
Sean John Hooded Snorkel Jacket, which was originally advertised as having "imitation
fur" and sold on Macys.com as well as in other traditional retail stores.
According
to tests conducted by The HSUS, the jacket actually contained fur from a canine
species known as "raccoon dog." Macy’s
has already pulled the mislabeled jackets from its Macys.com store and its department
stores as well. The HSUS is urging all retailers to pull the jacket from the shelves.The
Sean John jackets weren’t the only jackets subjected to the spectrometry tests.
THE
HSUS found that a range of fur-trimmed jackets were being produced by clothing
lines like Andrew Marc, MaxMara, Calvin Klein and Baby Phat, while retailers like
Burlington Coat Factory, Bloomingdale’s, J.C. Penney and Saks Fifth Avenue were
selling the mislabeled jackets, in violation of The Fur Products Labeling Act."First
these jackets were falsely advertised as faux fur, and then it turned out that
the fur came from a type of dog," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of
The HSUS. "This is an industry-wide problem, and our investigation demonstrates
that retailers and designers aren’t paying close enough attention to composition
of the fur trim they are selling. It’s especially problematic when the fur is
sourced from China where domestic dogs and cats and raccoon dogs are killed in
gruesome ways, even skinned alive. The safest course of action is for Sean Combs
and other designers and retailers to stop using fur trim. That single act would
solve the problems we have uncovered."According
to statistics, China is the leading exporter of fur and supplies almost half of
all of the fur products that enter the United States for sale. The
HSUS maintains that China kills dogs, cats, foxes and raccoon dogs in barbaric
ways and maintains that fur sellers in China will attach almost any label their
customers want on their coats."It
would be jarring to the public to shop in a marketplace where dog and cat fur
is banned, but coats labeled as ‘raccoon dog’ are still legally sold," added
Pacelle.The
HSUS is the United States’ largest animal protection organization with nearly
10 million members and constituents. According to The HSUS, over 50 million animals
are killed each year for their fur.
