User:JCarvalho34/sandbox

Components of the Fur Trade
Not only can the fur be dyed, but fur farmers may cross bread animals to get uniquely, different colored pelts. This along with inbreeding these animals are very common to obtain distinct characteristics.

Animal welfare
In the Netherlands, minks are bred in half open or closed sheds, with a female mink having her own pen. The mother animal gives birth once a year, typically in April or May to 5-6 young. The young are bred and eventually skinned in November or December. "Around 40-80 are needed to make a full length coat."

Lately in today's society and fashion, producers and consumers have been rejecting the use of fur. Companies and consumers are becoming more aware of how these animals are being treated on farms and during the skinning process. Companies are now adopting fur-free corporate policies and exposing rival companies who do still use real fur. Consumers and advocates are now discriminating against these companies by not purchasing their products.

PETA also emphasizes that the animals are killed in inhumane ways by electrocution, suffocation, gassing, or poisoning to ensure that the pelts are of quality.

Environmental effects
Animal wastes and remains contain high nitrogen and phosphorus. Too much of these two elements contribute to water pollution through runoffs and leakages because of the highly chemical buildup at these fur confinements. In addition, high levels of nitrous oxide from manure and feed for the animals impact climate change by five times higher than that of wool production. However, manure may be treated to reduce its nitrogen and phosphorus content. Once manure is treated and/or dried, it may be used as fertilizer for farmland or digested in a bio gas plant.

In order to prevent fur from decaying, manufacturers use a plethora of chemicals. This hazardous process has led to fur dressing being ranked as one of the world's five worst industries for toxic-metal pollution – not by animal rights groups, but by the World Bank. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the US has previously fined six fur processing plants for causing high levels of pollution and for using solvents in fur dressing that "may cause respiratory problems, and are listed as possible carcinogens".

When hunting animals for furs, such as coyotes, hunters use leg traps which may also catch other animals. This may also contribute to a decrease in biodiversity and threaten endangered species.

It's not only bad for the environment, but a threat to humans within the environment as well. People working in fur factories are known to often have health problems related to working with these chemicals, including skin and eye problems and an increased cancer risk. Chemicals used to stop deterioration can also take a toll to wearers. Research in the Netherlands showed that some fur items contain residue from these chemicals that are poisonous and contain carcinogens. Research in Germany and Denmark showed that this was also the case in those country and harmful substances were even found on children’s coats that contained fur.

For that reason, in recent years, most fur factories have moved to third world countries, where pollution regulation is much less strict. The ‘Industrial Pollution Projection System’ of the World Bank analysed which industries cause most heavy metal pollution and concluded that the fur industry belonged in the top 5.

Sustainability: faux fur versus farmed fur
"Yet an oft-cited 1979 study by the University of Michigan found that despite the environmental cost of faux-fur, it still takes 20 times more energy to produce a farmed-fur coat."