Responding to concerns raised by an animal rights organization, two theatre companies in southwestern Ontario have opted to donate old fur garments from their wardrobe collections so they can be used in animal rehabilitation.
Earlier this month, the Palace Theatre in London announced plans for a flash fur sale. The group originally saw the fur sell-off as a way to recycle the old garments they no longer had use for in their stage productions.
“These furs, for the most part, come from estates where the kids don’t know what to do with mom’s fur coat,” read the notice. “Selling a vintage coat [between 35 and 70 years old] seemed like a good way to reduce, reuse, recycle.”
That notice was forwarded to Jenny McQueen, co-founder of Animal Rights Toronto, an umbrella group of organizations. McQueen is opposed to the sale of fur, including its resale and reuse.
The use of fur continues to be a complex issue in Canada. While some see vintage fur making a comeback and its use continues to be important for Indigenous groups, McQueen and others would like to see a permanent end to its use.
In 2019, Queen Elizabeth stated she would stop buying fur, and some fashion houses, including Gucci, Prada and Armani, have said they’ll no longer use fur.
So why oppose the use of vintage fur?
McQueen said it has the potential to normalize its use and make it popular again, something she believes would set back animal rights.
Instead of reusing old fur, McQueen — through her group’s #ZipOffTheCruelty campaign — encourages people to donate it to her. From there, garments including coats, hats and trim pieces are passed on to animal rehabilitation groups for use as bedding.
In making her pitch for The Palace’s fur to be donated instead of sold, McQueen sent the theatre an Instagram video she’d taken of a fur hat her group donated being used as a bed for baby squirrels who’d lost their mother. The newborn squirrels, hairless and about the size of an adult’s thumb, were being cared for at an Ontario rehabilitation centre after falling out of a nest.
“The hat had been turned inside out and the squirrels were snuggling into the real animal fur,” said McQueen. “It keeps them warm, and when they’ve lost their mothers, it gives them the next-level comfort.”
McQueen has also donated fox coats to Procyon Wildlife, a licensed, small-animal rehabilitation centre in Beeton, Ont. An image on her Instagram page shows a fox lying on a fox fur coat donated by McQueen.
Sarah Bruce of Procyon said while fur has a short life as bedding because it can’t be washed, it’s effective for orphaned baby animals.
“They like the fur because it feels like their mother and they can snuggle right in,” she said.
McQueen has also sent donated furs on to Coats For Cubs, a U.S.-based group that uses fur items in bedding for animal rehabilitation.
Deb Chantler, who is on the Palace Theatre board of directors, said McQueen’s letter made a good case for donating the furs instead of selling them.
“It made sense to us, their concerns about animal rights and animal welfare,” said Chantler.
In January, the Stratford Festival theatre donated multiple fur coats from its wardrobe collection to Animal Rights Toronto. Many of their coats had been donated to the theatre over the years.
“In theory, it would be lovely to see them recycled into new costumes,” the theatre wrote in an email to McQueen and shared with CBC News. “But the fact of the matter is that we do not have the appropriate storage for them to be preserved, and many actors would prefer not to wear real fur.”
Not everyone who works in animal rehabilitation sees fur as the best material for animal bedding.
Brian Salt of Salthaven Wildlife Rehab and Education Centre, told CBC News they did for a time use fur in bedding but stopped doing that. One concern was that fur, particularly vintage fur, is sometimes treated with chemicals that Salt said could be harmful to animals.
But that wasn’t the only reason he’s stopped using donated fur.
“If it gets pooped on, you can’t just throw it into a washing machine,” he said.
