Cruelty-free fashion statement:
At the Singapore Fashion Festival 2006, there were reports that live animals from rabbits to flamingos and a python were used. Live rabbits, for example, were carried in plastic carriers and paraded down the catwalk by (human) models.

The SPCA does not oppose creativity and cutting-edge entertainment. We do, however, strongly object to subjecting animals to unnecessary stress for the sake of entertainment. A fashion show is a loud and frenetic environment - the pumping music, bright lights and unfamiliar yet hectic environment would have put the animals under much duress.

Removing animals from their familiar habitats is a process that causes mental stress and physical discomfort in many ways. These animals would have to be contained, transported and then unloaded to a strange new environment to be part of a crowded spectacle. There appears to be little thought and consideration given in relation to the animals' welfare (mental welfare in particular) in the process of providing entertainment and novelty.

Rabbits are generally timid animals and the loud music would have frightened them, much less the discomfort of being stuffed into carriers and swung down the catwalk. Animals used to being in more natural environments can also suffer from being subjected to extreme temperature changes and a sensory overload of human crowds, loud and sudden noises and blinding lights.

The SPCA believes that making a fashion statement can be done without putting live animals under unnecessary mental and physical duress and appeals to organisers of such events to consider the welfare of animals in conceptualising future shows as well as fashion shoots.

Fur is for animals
Fur farming and harvesting causes extreme suffering to the animals whose pelts adorn coats, cardigans, bags and shoes. Yet the fashion item continues to be splashed across fashion magazines, catwalks and boutiques (even in sunny Singapore). Fur-trimmed items - such as cardigans and bags rather than full fur coats - are also pushing up the demand for fur.

The majority of the fur that feeds the industry comes from captive farmed animals. Animals on fur farms are confined in crippling, cramped conditions resulting in much distress and suffering. Slaughter methods are concerned with keeping pelts intact but result in great suffering for the animals. Some are killed by genital electrocution, which causes animals the pain of a cardiac arrest while fully conscious. Others are poisoned (and die painful deaths via suffocation) or have their necks snapped.

In Asia, the fur industry is growing. Much of the fur comes from China. Recently, undercover investigators from EAST International, based in Taiwan, toured fur farms in China. These farms are unregulated. There were foxes, minks, rabbits and other animals like dogs and cats. This is what the investigators found:

"…many animals are still alive and struggling desperately when workers flip them onto their backs or hang them up by their legs or tails to skin them. When workers on these farms begin to cut the skin and fur from an animal's leg, the free limbs kick and writhe. Workers stomp on the necks and heads of animals who struggle too hard to allow a clean cut. When the fur is finally peeled off over the animals' heads, their naked, bloody bodies are thrown onto a pile of those who have gone before them. Some are still alive, breathing in ragged gasps and blinking slowly. Some of the animals' hearts are still beating five to 10 minutes after they are skinned. One investigator recorded a skinned raccoon dog on the heap of carcasses who had enough strength to lift his bloodied head and stare into the camera."
- http://www.furisdead.com/feat/ChineseFurFarms/

To learn more about the fur trade:
http://www.furisdead.com/FAQ.asp

To watch a video of the horrific fur trade:
http://www.furisdead.com/feat/ChineseFurFarms/

In Singapore, there is simply no excuse to wear fur. Exercise your right as a consumer to refuse this symbol of excessive cruelty.