I can’t actually watch this video, because I saw the same scene in http://www.earthlings.com/(I now have a new respect for Joaquin Phoenix: he is the narrator and helped with its production)and that was difficult enough. It had such a profound effect. We all have such a responsibility as human beings (especially if we have taken bodhisattva vows) to immediately put an end to such unbelievably inhumane practices. I can’t believe this actually occurs, hell realms manifest through such ignorance and madness. There has to be some sort of action taken. If anyone knows of any petition or organization aimed at ending these practices please post them here.

Do not forget that these videos are produced by an extremist organisation who rake in millions of dollars annually taken from good willed people who are easily swayed by emotional rhetoric. It is in PETA’s interest to find and promote heinous material that enrages people’s emotions.
If PETA really cared, they would disclose the sources of their videos so that appropriate action could be taken against the perpetrators of these abhorrent acts. They refuse ! Why? There is circumstantial evidence that the film makers were actually involved in the encouragement of the atrocities carried out here in order to produce more effective advertising for their extremist cause and agenda.
They then combine it with lies and mistruths about the fur trade. For instance – The fur industry NEVER condones skinning animals alive, and “producing a more perfect cut” is a totally meaningless and mis-directing statement. There is no doubt that some fur “farms” are involved in bad practices, (the same in all industries), But it is wrong to judge a whole industry on the illegal activities of the few fringe producers.
The majority of the finished furs exported by China come form furs Imported from the West, notably Scandinavia, where animals are reared and cared for under strict animal welfare practices.
The fur trade has a “Point of Origin” policy detailing the origin of the fur.
Buddhists should not be condoning PETA, who’s activities leave a lot to be desired when it comes to right action right thought, and right speech.
The Buddha, wise as his words were, was inevitably speaking at a time when the world population was a tiny two to three million (cf today’s seven BILLION!) He also had no knowledge of the rest of the world.
With a population of seven billion, it is now impossible for humans to exist without involving other animals on a huge scale. Animal death for the benefit of humans is inevitable, but the best we can do is to endeavour to treat animals in the most humane ways possible in our interaction with them. It is wrong and even dangerous therefore to castigate an industry that strives to promote good animal welfare practices by linking it to evil and obnoxious individuals who have no regard at all for animal suffering.
The actions depicted in these videos are totally despicable and the perpetrators should be brought to count. Unfortunately this is unlikely to happen as it is not in the interests of the animal rights organisations to do so . But don’t believe that these kind of practices in any way relate to the mainstream, responsible fur industry. They don’t.

CORRECTION – I do apologise, I was typing too fast. The population of the world at the time of the Buddha was believed to be around 2-3 HUNDRED million, not 2-3 million. It is still a tiny figure compared to today. How wonderfull the world had the potential for being then !!

The Animal Rights movement has refused again and again to hand out the original video material they are campaigning with – including the very gruesome one displayed above. Pete is obviously right, PETA is running a great vegan scam. Of all animal industries in the world, the fur industry is by far the one which is most under siege – therefore the business can´t compromise on animal welfare at all. If consumers (I am not buying fur myself though) don´t want Chinese fur it is really not a problem as Pete points out.

Humane killing is necessary, be it in the fur industry or in the food industry. If PETA were satisfied with changes which insured this, I would support their position. Unfortunately, they seem to be abolitionist not reformist.

Can’t watch it. Thought I could, can’t. PETA does seem to always go the all or nothing route in their campaigns though, as when they tried to link global warming to meat eating (there is a strong link), and tried to get everyone to be vegetarian (when a eat-less-meat campaign would’ve been much more effective.

Pete, PETA does reveal the source of the video in the article – Swiss Animal Protection/EAST International produced it, not PETA. I can see why they would want to protect their sources, and I wonder whether it would really be possible to expect meaningful appropriate action in China.
I don’t always agree with PETA’s tactics either, and I too think they would be more effective if they were less rigid. but I think the video speaks for itself. I hope that you are right about the fur industry, but your post suggests to me that you are not an impartial actor either.

Thanks for writing about this.
Live skinning of furbearing animals in China was found by the SAP/East/Care investigators in 2004-2005, Beijing News in 2005, and Sky News/Press Gazette in 2006.
SAP/EAST Intl./Care for the Wild:
http://www.animal-protection.net/furtrade/chinafur.html
Beijing News:
http://www.animal-protection.net/furtrade/beijing_news.pdf

Also, the cruelty is not isolated to China.
Anal electrocution is a common methods of killing foxes on confinement operations:
http://video.hsus.org/?fr_story=8c91084c49ccc01e5a0f32c613c0c2c87bd62ff3&rf=bm or http://tinyurl.com/mn89jr
And the traps set for wild animals not only cause them to suffer, but also regularly catch other animals, including threatened or endangered species, pets, and hunting dogs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/30/us/30traps.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&ref=us&pagewanted=print or http://tinyurl.com/lsh99o