An animal rights campaign group with links to
Tory minister Lord Goldsmith is facing embarrassment after the
misreporting of a story that fur from mistreated animals on Chinese
farms was being sold on UK high streets.
The story launched the Daily Mirror's campaign to ban fur in Britain
in July and was backed by TV naturalist Chris Packham who described
harrowing footage, recorded by investigators from Human Society
International (HSI), as "a scene from hell".
The aerial shots showed foxes being beaten, skinned and chucked on a heap before their fur is made into coats.
But following a complaint to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO),
the newspaper was forced to print a correction admitting that there was
“no evidence” the fur from mistreated animals in Asia was being sold in
the UK.
The IPSO ruling stated: "The committee considered that the article
was significantly misleading as to whether fur from a farm which
mistreated foxes was being sold in British shops.”
Freedom of Information (FOI) requests revealed that HSI used the
footage last summer to help to broker support from Lord Goldsmith, who
is pushing for a post-Brexit ban on fur sales with the support of the
Prime Minister's fiance Carrie Symonds. He met with the group in
February and May last year.
Three months later, Lord Goldsmith, who is the Defra minister
responsible for animal welfare, spoke at an event arranged by the animal
rights campaign group calling for a “fur free Britain”
Ms Symonds, who has previously demonstrated against whaling and the
badger cull, tweeted last September that people who wear fur were “sick”
and that clothes brands were “nuts” to sell it.
In July 2019, Lord Goldsmith said: “Brexit could give us the
opportunity to close our borders to this grotesque and unnecessary
trade.”
The Government plans to launch a consultation into banning fur sales after the Brexit transition period ended on December 31.
Fur farming was banned in 2003 but the UK still allows the product to
be imported from overseas. France is one of the biggest suppliers,
along with Denmark, Finland, USA, Italy, Poland and Canada.
A ban would affect imports of almost £200 million of fur and
fur-based products every year, many of which come from the European
Union.
Giles Roca, chief executive of the British Fur Trade Association
said: “This is a huge blow to those animal rights activists pushing a
fur ban in the UK, led by Humane Society International. As the Regulator
also made clear, the sale of fur in the UK is highly regulated with
exacting animal welfare and legal standards.”
A spokesman for HSI said: “HSI’s investigation was a shocking and
truthful insight into the lives of animals on fur farms. We place great
importance on ensuring the verifiable accuracy of the information we
place in the public domain, but of course have no control over how
others report on our work.
"This minor correction by the Daily Mirror on one of the assets it
produced seems appropriate in light of the fact that our investigation
did not directly link this specific farm in China with fur sold in UK
shops. The lack of traceability and transparency in much of the fur
trade’s global supply chains means making direct farm-to-garment links
is extremely challenging, which is why we do not make such assertions.
“However, whilst victorious in a technicality, the fur trade’s
complaint amounts to little more than misdirection when you consider
HMRC figures showing that in recent years the UK has imported tens of
millions of pounds worth of fur from China, and that successive
investigations on fur farms – whether in China, Finland or any country –
reveal that all animals farmed for their fur are kept in tiny barren
wire cages and subjected to cruel deaths. All animal fur imported and
sold in UK shops is a product of suffering, the IPSO ruling changes
nothing about that tragic reality.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/01/07/fur-flies-watchdog-rules-story-linking-animal-cruelty-british/
1 件のコメント:
動物乱獲してたらそりゃばれまっせ
コメントを投稿