New Forest naturalist Chris Packham supports call for total ban on UK fur sales
NEW Forest-based TV naturalist Chris Packham has thrown his weight behind a campaign for a total ban on the sale of real animal furs.
He has spoken out after Fur Free Britain drive led by PETA UK, Humane Society International, Four Paws, Open Cages and the RSPCA, presented a petition signed by more than one million supporters to the House of Parliament on Tuesday morning.
"Real animal fur is cruel and unnecessary," Mr Packham, who has a house near Marchwood, said on his Twitter account. "It doesn’t look cool on your collar, it looks cruel."
He pointed out while fur farming was banned by the UK more than two decades ago, fur imports were not.
"We still import fur from overseas and sell it on our high streets," he added in a video posted to his Twitter account, calling those sales "hypocritical".
Mr Packham said some animals continued to be hunted for their fur, while he called out countries such as China, Finland and Poland for still having fur farms, adding they kept foxes and mink in cages.
"That's like you spending your life in a wardrobe; with not enough food, overcrowded, suffering and in sanitary conditions. It's not acceptable is it? Not in the 21st century and not in the midst of a biodiversity crises."