“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It's not.” - Dr. Seuss
Walking around my New England college campus, I can’t help but notice the increasing number of students wearing the fashionable, high-end brand, Canada Goose. The cold weather apparel brand is growing, and sales have climbed 450% in the last 7 years. This is disheartening. It's sickening. It’s wrong. Every time I see the brand logo, I cringe inside, due to the cruel and inhumane industry that the brand proudly promotes.
Many people are unaware that Canada Goose lines the hoods of their parkas with real fur. The company states “We understand and respect that some people think animal products should never be used in any consumer products, however we do not share that view.” Canada Goose claims that fur is the ultimate insulator, and that their products “are designed and built to protect against the elements in the coldest places on Earth – places where exposed skin can freeze in an instant.” Now please tell me when the next time you plan on going for a stroll in Antarctica is (I’ll wait). It should also be mentioned that many synthetic materials are in fact, just as warm as fur. Sorry, Canada Goose…or should I say Canada Abuse.
Canada Goose proudly claims that they only source their fur ethically and is in accordance with with the Agreement of International Humane Trapping Standards (AIHTS) in Canada and the Best Managed Practices (BMP) in the United States. Looking into these standards further, there is nothing ethical about it.
The AIHTS standards claim they trap animals in humane way, but acknowledge that "there will be a short period of time during which the level of welfare may be poor. " These animals, primarily coyotes, are often times captured with foothold traps, made of two jaws that snap closed when the animal steps on the trigger pad. The animal then must suffer until the trapper returns and kills it, often by blunt force trauma. Other trap designs include weights that drown the trapped animal if it enters water.
The Best Managed Practices (BMP), which Canada Goose works with states that their idea of keeping animal welfare in mind is “that the trap must cause irreversible loss of consciousness in 70% of the sample animals within 300 seconds”. During those 5 minutes before death (in most animals), poor welfare is expected, which includes self mutilation, fractures, severance of a tendon or ligament, severe internal organ damage, severe external hemorrhage, and hemorrhage into an internal cavity.
Despite this horrendous truth, Canada Goose still claims to be humane. “We do not condone any willful mistreatment, neglect, or acts that maliciously cause undue pain, injury, or suffering towards animals, and we are committed to providing full transparency about how we make our products.”
What about this practice is ethical, which means morally good or correct, or avoiding activities or organizations that do harm to people or the environment. Based on that definition, the only thing ethical to do in this case is to boycott Canada Goose. Educate others. Do research. Animals should not be suffering for the only purpose of us "looking cool". Besides, there is nothing cool about cruelty.
Lets leave wildlife in the wild, and popularity of Canada Goose in the past.
