Celebrities join calls to ban the sale of animal fur in Britain

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Nov 29, 2019

The Humane Society International has stepped up its campaign for a UK fur sales ban by securing the endorsement of dozens of celebrities.

Ricky Gervais, Paloma Faith and Alesha Dixon are amongst the TV personalities, music artists and actors who have joined the #FurFreeBritain campaign to make the UK the first country in the world to ban the sale of animal fur.

Fearne Cotton, Kirsty Gallacher,  Pete Wicks, Lucy Watson, Nicole Appleton, Evanna Lynch, Chris Packham, Gail Porter, Alexi Lumborski, Jasmine Harman and Sara Pascoe have also posted selfies in support of the campaign.

Many UK fashion brands have said no to fur, including Net-A-Porter, Farfetch and Victoria Beckham, and last week House of Fraser removed all animal fur products from its stores and website following a backlash from consumers.

Earlier this month, Queen Elizabeth II made history by announcing that all her new outfits will be fur-free.

Whilst fur farming has been banned in the UK since 2000, imports of animal fur from other countries such as Finland, Poland and China are still allowed and some retailers have been found selling real fur as fake.

The Humane Society International believes that if fur is too cruel to produce in Britain, it is too cruel to sell in Britain. 

Last year, a committee of MPs considered a ban on sales of real fur after a series of mislabelling cases came to light, and called on the government to hold a public consultation. The UK seemed close to outlawing the sale and import of animal fur, however the discussion has been left until after Brexit.