Etsy: Skinned Animals Aren't Artsy April 8, 2009

yay I sent it!

Etsy is also allowing people to sell jewelry made out of animal's skeleton. One of their featured items today was a raven skull necklace. We need to stop this!

God Bless You Guys for Helping the animals!
Maddi

Yeah I'm against fur but considering PETA gave away old fur coats to homeless people as a way of trying to get people to not wear fur because homeless people wear fur.

So why are you against the vintage excuse when infact PETA itself is collecting old fur coats for its own needs?

I usually would, but etsy.com is a bit like ebay, it comes from hundreds of different sellers as opposed to just one large seller. There are A LOT of sellers who have vegan products on etsy.com, so it would be silly to prosecute the whole website. I really like etsy.com, and I wish you'd do your homework a bit more. Instead just contact indivdual sellers who do sell animal products.

um...are you serious?
Are you not perhaps taking it too far?

I mean, I understand that most people on this website have animal-rights as there top agenda, obviously we love animals. But you have a problem with recycled fur/leather products? What, should we just throw everything away into an incinerator? Hold little creepy "funerals" for all the dead animals?Would that not be a waste of all of that durable and extremely useful fabric? theres a reason why human beings have been using fur and leather for thousands of years: its amazingly warm, hardy and resilient. I don't see how using/buying/wearing recycled fur/leather further hurts any animals. The point is to end PRODUCTION currently, now that we have the technology to create fabrics and materials similar (but not superior!) to fur and leather. Im sorry, but I'm not gong to feel guilty for taking an old, 5$ fur jacket lining from a thrift shop and putting it inside my own hood in the minus 30c weather. Harassing companies to stop selling recycled materials is kind of counter productive towards a greener, kinder future, no?

You should stick to canvassing places like, oh I don't know, urban outfitters?Wal-Mart?Armani?(Wait...who in there right mind gives those people their money..?

(..oh, don't forget the slave labor...and the capitalist corporation....and the evils of consumerism...and the.....)

I know it's off your intended topic, but are you actually whining about an $18 handmade, no sweatshops, made in the USA, presumably unique piece of jewelry that will last for years being too expensive? Here in the Midwest that $18 will barely get your brows waxed -- and that will last maybe a month. Or it will cover lunch for two at Subway -- that will hold you a few hours. Forget fur. Let's hear it for sweatshops, slave labor, and cheap imported crap!

Hey there --

PETA takes donations of old fur coats, yes, to use in demos and to give to the homeless as a way to counteract the fur industry's lies about fur sales going up.

No groups have been able to counteract that message effectively, although many of us have tried; something else needed to be done. By giving homeless people fur coats—defaced in order to destroy their resale value—we have been able to counteract reports of a “fur comeback” by showcasing the fact that we receive more donations of fur each year than ever before from people appalled at the cruelties involved in fur ranching and trapping.

In the interviews resulting from the giveaways, we have been able to point out that, even after using hundreds of furs in educational displays, dumping them at museums and outside furriers, painting them for floats, dragging them through the streets, burying and burning them, and even using them as animal bedding, still the coats continue to come in because people can’t abide the suffering they’ve learned about through our exposés.

The fur giveaways also counteract the furriers’ efforts to portray fur as “upscale,” “chic,” or a status symbol; rather, the overwhelming influx of fur into our office means that fur has hit rock bottom. Only people with no choices have any excuse to wear such items. People with money and style can choose—and they don’t choose fur.

It would be far better if we could just present the facts about fur, without having to use gimmicks. However, unlike our opposition, which is mostly composed of wealthy industries and corporations, PETA cannot afford costly ad campaigns (and our ads are often refused when we can afford them), so we have to rely on getting free “advertising” through media coverage. Our actions are colorful and often controversial because past experience has shown that the media thrives on such stunts—and we can’t get people to stop buying fur if they aren’t aware of the problem. The fur giveaways have captured the public’s attention and earned positive press for the animals across the country, including CNN, USA Today, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and many national radio shows.

There's a pretty big difference between fighting the fur industry and selling fur to promote it.

Hope this clears it up a bit :)

-Rachel from peta2

totally not cool

Where to draw the line? Etsy also actively promotes bag makers who fabricate their bags out of genuine brand spankin' new leather that has not been repurposed or recycled. Last time I checked, leather is the "skin of dead animals". Some people don't like fur and think it isn't cool, but they'll wear leather shoes. Arbitrary priorities. (I personally do not purchase or make handmade items out of leather or fur, but I don't tell others not to.)

Point taken. :)

There are lots of teams on Etsy that promote animal-free products. Two of them are Cruelty-free Etsy "CFE" and Vegan Etsy "Veganetsy".

Excuse me, what was wrong about my comment that I wrote yesterday, that you felt it couldn't be added to the comments section? If you aren't going to approve it at least tell me why.

I must disagree. Firstly I do not think anyone should be blocked from selling their items based on someone else's moral objections. Honestly that would make me more sick than vintage fur does. Recycling, earth friendly practices and even veganism are all things that many artists and crafters choose to support. The freedom of the individual to make these choices is what sets handmade apart from corporate mass production.

Secondly, I think you are appealing to the wrong person. Etsy does not sell the items, the seller sells the items. Etsy is not a retailer, simply a venue. If you object to someone's items, the matter needs to be taken to the individual seller. Etsy is absolutely not going to force sellers to make everything animal free. However if you search for vegan on Etsy, you will find a wonderful array of vegan products that handmade with love.

http://www.fursource.com/index.php

worst website evr

work on shuting that down

please

its nothign but fur fur fur

i was looking for some necklace with a butterfly on it for my sister, because she just loves butterflies. I came across a necklace with a real butterfly wing incased in some plastic. This company on esty also had earings as well. the online site stated that no butterflies were harmed they came from butterfly farms and died of natural causes.... that is bullshit because nothing dies of natural causes on a farm and that is barbaric when you are wearing and insect or animal parts around your neck... My grandpa passed away should I wear a tooth of his as a necklace... i think not!!!!

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