Written by PETA
You might be surprised to learn about Switzerland's involvement in the cat-fur industry. Switzerland is the only country in Western Europe that still legally allows cats to be hunted for their fur. Swiss law even states that cats that wander 200 yards or more away from their homes can legally be killed—and their fur can be made into jackets, coats, and bed blankets.
It's really no coincidence that most people don't know about Switzerland's cat-fur trade. If you were to step inside a fur store in Switzerland and raise questions about cat fur, chances are the store would deny any involvement or pretend it does not know anything about the industry.
But undercover investigations conducted by television crews last year exposed Switzerland's cat-fur trade. And caught on film were the same tanners and furriers who, when questioned, denied any involvement. You can read the details here.
The footage caught on film from hidden cameras caused an uproar from Swiss citizens and animal rights groups. Longtime animal rights advocate Brigitte Bardot has thrown her support to the cause, and SOS Chats—Switzerland's pro-cat lobby—is now working to ban the cat-fur trade and cat hunting.
Ironically enough, Switzerland actually banned all cat-fur imports from other countries in 2006 because of concerns about the animals' treatment during slaughter—a move that is proving to be as useless as the cat- and dog-fur ban that the European Union will be adopting later this year.
It's a little hard to be neutral when you're contributing to this, Switzerland. Don't you think?
By submitting this form, you are agreeing to our collection, storage, use, and disclosure of your personal info in accordance with our privacy policy as well as to receiving e-mails from us.
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
Follow PETA on Twitter!