In ten months the full ban on trade, import and export of cat and dog fur in the EU countries will enter into force. Animal rights protection organizations count days before the entry into force of the related EU Directive. In the meantime the Belarusian NGOs seek for adoption of the Law on Animal Protection.
From 31 December 2008 European traders will be obliged to provide customers with complete information about which animal fur comes from. And those who will try to sell goods made of cat and dog fur will face substantial fines.
The European Commission, the initiator of the Draft Directive, also proposed to the EU member states to set up a system of exchange of information aiming at detecting and suppressing trade of cat and dog fur, frequently hiding behind definitions ‘synthetic fur’ or ‘wild animal fur’.
A representative of the Belarusian Animal Protection Society, Ms. Margarita Pushkevich, says, that Belarusian NGOs have been for several years push forward the adoption of efficient Law on Animal Protection in
Belarus
.
“We are the only country in
Europe
where such law doesn’t exist. In
Ukraine
such Law has entered into force already two years ago. We submitted a Draft Law on Animal Protection to the relevant commission of the House of Representatives of the Parliament seven years ago. By now the Parliamentarians haven’t left a stone standing from this Draft. I am aware that there is an article in the Draft Law prohibiting manufacture of goods from ‘companion animal’ fur, i.e. from pets living in apartments and houses. However it doesn’t say a word about banning imported goods made of pets. Today all Belarusian markets are full of Chinese coats, hats and gloves made of cat and dog fur and sold as ‘mink’, ‘goat’, ‘fox’, ‘raccoon’ furs. In China the technology of imitation is developed to an extent that even an expert can not always tell what kind of fur was used”, says Ms. Margarita Pushkevich.
The EU raised the issue of banning cat and dog fur trade in 2003. Back then the animal protection activists and the BBC claimed that cats and dogs were bred for fur in some EU countries as well. According to animal rights advocates, rough dog fur was frequently sold in regular shops labeled as exotic fur or sometimes ‘mythical’ animal fur. For instance, in
Italy
a series of DNA tests were used to unmask the traders of coats made of canine.
In the
USA
the trade of dog and cat fell was banned a long time ago. In Europe such ban was introduced after the ‘fur coat’ row, first in
Italy
and later in
France
and
Denmark
. Then it was followed by
Germany
and now the entire EU is fighting against pet extermination.
China
is the main exporter of cat and dog fur to both EU and the CIS countries. Animal rights protection activists believe that on average 2 to 4 million cats and dogs are being killed there annually. The animals are bred for this purpose only and frequently kept in terrible conditions. They live in crowded cages and die in agony.
“I don’t’ think that
Belarus
will be flooded with fur goods after the ban on trade of cat and dog fur comes into force in the EU. Our market is glutted anyway. However we will continue fighting for a ban on import of fur made of pets. Seven Belarusian animal protection organizations (“Zoosvet”, “Egida”, “Zoomir”, “Druzia Zhivotnyh”, “Koshkin Dom”, “Zaschita Zhivotnyh” (from
Pinsk
), “Miloserdije” (from
Baranovichi
)) addressed the Parliament recently with a demand to speed up the adoption of the Law on Animal Protection. We are seven already, which makes us a force one should pay attention to! I think we should be able to achieve the adoption by the Parliament of the Law on Animal Protection in autumn this year, including full ban on trade of cat and dog fur”, says Ms. Margarita Pushkevich.
By Natalia Sharaj
[email protected]
