Major UK retailers exposed for selling real animal fur advertised as fake

Amazon and TK Maxx among companies accused of wrongly describing products, prompting calls for wholesale ban on importation of fur

Animals bred for fur are often kept in distressing conditions

A number of major retailers have been criticised after it emerged they were selling products containing animal fur, despite advertising them as synthetic.

Amazon, TK Maxx, Boohoo and Groupon were among companies found to be selling real fur that was not advertised as such.

Tests undertaken as part of an investigation by the charity Humane Society International and Sky News revealed that customers have unwittingly been buying animal products.

Among the items wrongly described as faux fur were a £5 pair of earrings from online retailer Boohoo that actually contained real mink fur. Other Boohoo products were found to be made from rabbit fur.

Boohoo has an Animal Welfare Policy that it says was approved by animal rights charity PETA. The company has committed to not selling real animal fur.

Other retailers were also found to have mislabelled products. TK Maxx was selling a coat made from real fox fur, despite the product description claiming the material was manmade. The company claims it has “not sold real animal fur of any type” since 2003.

Customers had even raised concerns that some TK Maxx products appeared to be made of real fur, but were assured by the chain’s customer services department that they were not. Testing revealed that the product in question was indeed made of rabbit fur.

The revelation prompted calls for the Government to ban the importation of fur from abroad. Fur farming was outlawed in the UK in 2003 but it remains legal to purchase fur from elsewhere.

A special permit is needed to import animal skins and it is illegal to bring into the country the fur of animals caught in leg-hold traps.

However, the fact that real fur is unknowingly being bought by UK shoppers is likely to prompt concern about the origins of the skins and the treatment of the animals from which they come.

Angela Smith MP, who co-chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare, told The Independent: “In this day and age, when the cruelty of the fur trade is so well known, I would have thought that manufacturers and stockists would have more sense than to try and smuggle such vile products into the hands of well-meaning customers.

“I will be calling on the Government to tighten up the regulations to ensure this kind of flagrant deception does not happen again and to help bring an end to this barbaric trade.”

Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Green Party, backed calls for a wholesale ban on the importation of fur.

She told The Independent: “Imagine finding out that the socks or hat you’ve been wearing for months, thinking it was fur free, had in fact been made from rabbit or another animal. It’s a deplorable practice and these shops need to end this deception.

“At the very least, we need a decent fur labelling law. But that will only fix the problem in the short term. The simplest, most effective thing to do would be not just to maintain the bans on cat, dog and seal fur post-Brexit, but to extend the ban to all species.

“Given the UK banned fur farming back in 2000, it’s completely perverse to be importing tens of millions of pounds of that same cruelty – or worse – from overseas. Debates over the last few months, inspired by the BBC’s Blue Planet and the vote on animal sentience, have proven once again that we are a nation of animal-lovers. I urge our government to protect the wellbeing of animals, and take fur out of our shops.”

Claire Bass, executive director of Humane Society International UK, said: “The amount of fake faux fur online is truly shocking, with even trusted retailers mis-selling real animal fur as synthetic.

“It is appalling that British shoppers, who are actively choosing not to buy real fur because of the terrible animal suffering, are being misled into buying the very same fur products they’re trying to avoid.”

TK Maxx said customers who had bought the real fur products would be offered a refund, while Groupon said it was reviewing its suppliers and internal processes “to ensure this doesn’t happen again”.

Boohoo said: “We are very disappointed that on this occasion our high standards have been breached by the suppliers from who these items have been sourced.

“The items in question were immediately removed from sale and the breach of the policy and its standards is being investigated as a matter of urgency.”

Amazon said marketplace sellers who don’t meet its guidelines faced the prospect of having their account deleted.