Just when you thought that footwear involving the mutilation of millions of sheep couldn't get any ugglier, several makers of knock-off UGG-style boots have been found to use fur from animals who were beaten and skinned alive. Tests conducted on products labeled as "Australian sheepskin" found that they were actually made of raccoon dog fur, most likely from animals confined to barbaric Chinese fur farms. 

Raccoon dogs are confined to row upon row of tiny wire cages that are exposed to the elements. Many of the animals go insane from the intensive confinement. Undercover video footage shows raccoon dogs as they are dragged from cages and slammed repeatedly to the ground before being skinned while still conscious. Some survive for as long as 10 minutes, blinking in pain on a pile of other bodies.

The tests also found that some boots contained domestic dog fur, which made it into Australia despite the country's ban on dog and cat fur.

Since you never can be sure whose fur ends up on your boots, coat, or gloves, the best thing to do is avoid all fur. 

Written by Heather Faraid Drennan

Raccoon Dog Pups
kathyannepippig / CC

I don't know about you, but before last year, all I knew about melamine was that it was used to make a hard resin for shatter-resistant kitchenware and floor laminates. Unfortunately, some unscrupulous companies in China found another use for it—adding it to foods to make them appear to have higher protein content. This resulted in the illness and deaths of dogs and cats in the U.S. and Europe, and, more recently, of humans (mostly children) in China.

Now comes word that melamine contamination appears to be responsible for killing 1,500 Chinese raccoon dogs. As horrible as it is to die from melamine poisoning, the alternative isn't much better for these animals, because raccoon dogs in China are commonly raised and skinned alive for their fur.

Either way, the responsibility for these horrible deaths falls squarely on the shoulders of those who support this cruelty by buying fur. If the raccoon dogs had been left alone in their native habitats, they wouldn't be eating an artificial, contaminated diet—and they certainly wouldn't face having their skin ripped off their bodies while they are conscious and in agony.

So, as the weather turns colder, if you see any fur-wearers, be sure to ask them if they prefer that the money they spent for that coat, collar, or cuff caused animals to die in agony from toxic kidney failure, or like this:

Written by Jeff Mackey