Fellwechsel: Coronavirus crisis is a worst-case scenario for the fur industry

Fur is inseparably linked to the suffering and death of wild animals.

Nevertheless, hunting associations are trying to make fur socially acceptable again, and to a considerable extent are using taxpayer money from public subsidies to do so — for example Fellwechsel GmbH in Berlin.

Due to the coronavirus crisis, which led to a collapse of the fur market, Fellwechsel GmbH has suspended operations indefinitely and placed deep-frozen goods in interim storage, the company writes on its website. In addition, hobby hunters are being asked to forgo their credit vouchers.

«The coronavirus crisis has affected numerous fashion companies and designers, as well as craft businesses. Unfortunately, one tannery that worked for Fellwechsel has already had to file for insolvency. In order to process the large quantities of over 30’000 pelts, Fellwechsel works with various partners. How severe the losses are for designers, retailers, or furriers is not yet foreseeable. Nor is it clear how quickly production and demand on the global market will pick up again.»

A bleak picture was already emerging at one of the fur industry's largest trade fairs, MilanoOne, at the end of February 2020. Trade fair visitors were absent, and Chinese customers in particular were completely missing. Major auction houses such as SagaFur and KopenhagenFur were forced to switch to online auctions — without success:Sales rates were at zero percent in some cases.

Fellwechsel: No sympathy from animal welfare advocates

Recreational hunting itself already inflicts unnecessary suffering on wildlife. Moreover, so-called eco-fur from hobby hunters is ultimately nothing more than a deceptive label at the animals' expense. Because wildlife dies unnecessarily for these pelts too. Furthermore, tanning does not by any means use only natural substances, as claimed on the Fellwechsel website. Such practices fall in line with the numerous hunting myths that are scientifically untenable.

Fur production derived largely from cruel recreational hunting is unlikely to become profitable — the Fellwechsel project therefore serves primarily as a propaganda tool. By invoking supposedly «ecologically correct» fur, the aim is to rehabilitate socially condemned fur clothing and to create a justification for the questionable persecution of foxes and other predators. In connection with the marketing of fur products, the claim is made that recreational hunting of foxes and the like is necessary, and that using their pelts is therefore not objectionable.

In reality, however, the understanding is growing that recreational hunting of foxes or martens is by no means necessary, but is ecologically senseless and, for example, promotes the spread of wildlife diseases. The Geneva model has demonstrated since 1974 that professional wildlife management without recreational hunting works.