At last, EU unveils plans to end cat and dog fur trade

2.30.18pm GMT Mon 20th Nov 2006

More than three years after first calling for a ban on cat and dog fur products, West Midlands Liberal Democrats, Member of European Parliament (MEP) Liz Lynne has welcomed long-overdue plans by the European Commission to outlaw the trade of cat and dog fur in the EU.

West Midlands Liberal Democrats, MEP Liz said "Finally, after campaigning for such a long time to stop cat and dog fur products being sold in the EU, it is great to see the European Commission has managed to overcome the legal obstacles it has always said made a ban impossible.

"In the past, the UK government has put forward half-hearted solutions such as the labelling of products but it was obvious that traders would have simply found ways around that by using misleading terms - a total ban will now mean there is no way to fool people.

"There is strong evidence that more than 2 million cats and dogs are killed in Asia solely for their fur, that they often live in horrific conditions and that in some cases are skinned alive.

"While a ban on such products in the European Union will not directly stop that situation, so much of these farmer's trade comes here that by closing down the market it will hopefully put them out of business for good."