An ongoing marketing campaign by an animal rights group is focusing on the usage of actual bear fur within the iconic bearskin caps worn by the King’s Guards at Buckingham Palace. On Thursday, the group highlighted the rising prices of those ceremonial hats, with costs hovering by 30% in only one yr.
The Ministry of Protection revealed that the value of every cap, produced from black bear fur, has risen to greater than £2,000 ($2,600), in keeping with a freedom of knowledge request by Individuals for the Moral Therapy of Animals (PETA). In response, PETA issued a press release urging the federal government to cease losing taxpayer cash on what they describe as “slaughtered wildlife” and to make the change to fake fur.
A luxurious fake fur firm has even provided to provide the military with free imitation bear fur for the following decade, PETA stated. Whereas the army stays open to alternate options, they declare no fake fur has but met the required requirements for sturdiness, water safety, and look. The enduring tall black hats are worn by guards through the altering of the guard ceremony and different royal occasions, making their look essential.
In simply the previous decade, greater than £1 million ($1.3 million) has been spent on these bearskin caps. The rise in value is partly attributed to a change in contracts for fur, which comes from bears killed throughout licensed hunts in Canada. Every cap requires one bear pelt, in keeping with PETA, which has spent over twenty years campaigning to finish this apply.
The Ministry of Protection denies claims that buying bear pelts helps the Canadian searching business, arguing that ceasing to purchase the fur wouldn’t cut back the variety of bears killed. Nevertheless, critics, together with members of Parliament, have expressed concern over the violent strategies utilized in bear searching and the ethical implications of continuous this custom.
Public sentiment additionally seems to be shifting. A 2022 ballot confirmed that 75% of the U.Okay. inhabitants opposed the usage of actual bear fur, viewing it as an pointless expense. In the identical yr, Parliament debated the problem following a web-based petition with over 100,000 signatures calling for the caps to be produced from faux fur.
Even members of the royal household are shifting away from fur. Queen Camilla, the spouse of King Charles III, pledged to cease shopping for fur earlier this yr, whereas Queen Elizabeth II had already ceased carrying fur earlier than her passing.
This article by Trinity Sparke was first printed by One Inexperienced Planet on 14 September 2024. Picture Credit score :Sergii Figurnyi/Shutterstock.
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