Horrific footage sparks war of words
A shocking video showing a raccoon dog being skinned alive then left to die on a heap of carcasses in China has dented fur sales and set off a furious debate over its authenticity between animal rights groups and fur-trade officials on the mainland.
The video, shot undercover during a year-long investigation into Chinese fur farms, shows the raccoon being tied to the back of a truck before its fur is peeled off over its head. The bloodied animal is then dumped on a pile of carcasses and has the strength to lift his head and stare into the camera before falling back to die.
Investigators claim to have found 'horrors beyond their worst imaginings' while visiting fur farms, where they say conditions 'make a mockery of the most elementary animal-welfare standards'.
'In their lives and their unspeakable deaths, these animals have been denied even the simplest acts of kindness,' their report says.
The video, shot at an undisclosed location, has been posted on a Peta website and is believed to have had an impact on fur sales, particularly in North America. Fur traders have questioned its authenticity and implied the investigators may have staged the incident.
The China Fur Commission says in a statement: 'Pictures showing animals being skinned alive are obviously plotted. All those with common sense would not choose this slaughter method to attain fur. Animals are bred for quality fur and those with a thinking mind know this method would seriously affect the quality of the fur.
'Secondly, animals being skinned alive would struggle and might hurt the skinner, which would increase the difficulty of the skinning process. The method is a very inefficient one to attain fur. For a fur farm with hundreds, even thousands, of animals, it is ridiculous and unfeasible to adopt this method.'
