The facts below apply to most fur ranches and trapping methods. They differ in
different regions.  

1.Trapped? Animals suffer excruciating pain in steel-jaw leghold traps for
hours or even days before having their chests stamped on or necks broken by
the trapper. 

2.Ranched? Animals on fur "ranches" spend their lives in tiny, filthy cages
and are killed by electrocution, suffocation, or neck breaking. 

3.Fur hurts the enviroment too; harsh chemicals are used to preserve and
process skin. 

4.In the wild, a mink will defend a territory of 2 1/2 miles of riverbank or
22 acres of marshland. An arctic fox ranges over anything from 2,100-15,000
acres and yet on fur farms these animals are kept in tiny wire mesh cages. In
these cages they have so much frustration that they become psychotic. Many are
driven to cannibalism and self-mutilation. 

5.If you buy fur, the animal was killed for you and at your expense. Your
money will also finance the slaughter of many more. 

6.The animals on fur ranches are deprived of most of their basic needs. 

7.On ranches animals are malnourished, suffer contagious diseases, and endure
severe stress. 

8.On these farms, the animals are forced to forfeit their natural instincts.
Beavers, who live in water in the wild, must exist on cement floors. Minks in
the wild, too, spend much of their time in water, which keeps their
salivation, respiration, and body temperature stable. They are also, by
nature, solitary animals. However, on these farms, they are forced to live in
close contact with other animals. This often leads to self-destructive
behavior, such as pelt and tail biting. They often resort to cannibalism. 

9.Sometimes, to kill the animals, engine exhaust is pumped into a box of
animals. This exhaust is not always lethal, and the animals sometimes writhe
in pain as they are skinned alive. 

10.Another common execution practice, often used on larger animals, is anal
electrocution. The farmers attach clamps to an animal's lips and insert metal
rods into its anus. The animal is then electrocuted. 

11.Decompression chambers, neck snapping, and poison are also used. 

12.Ranch animals are kept in cages about 2 and a half feet sqaure with up to
four animals in it. 

13.Ranched animals are sometimes kept in cages which are in sheds that have NO
protection from weather. (When it's cold out, the animals have no places to
hibernate so they get sick. When it's hot out, they have no trees or water to
relieve the heat). 

14.On fur farms animals are fed meat by-products which are often so grisly
that they are unfit even for the pet food industry: calves heads, beef lungs
and windpipes, unborn calves, chicken and turkey heads, beef and chicken
entrails, cow udders, and fish heads. Bacterial contamination from such a diet
threatens the health of the animals --particularly that of newly weaned pups. 

15.Fleas, ticks, lice, and other insects are attracted by the piles of
excrement under cages. These piles are often left for months--long enough for
insects to infest the animals. 

16.The animals that are killed are raccoons, red and gray foxes, beavers,
otters, coyotes, wolves, lynxes, bobcats, opossums, minks, badgers, and
muskrats. 

17.It ranges between 10 to 120 animals  to make ONE fur coat. The smaller the
animal is, the more of them it takes to make a coat. 

18.Squirrels, hawks, owls, pet dogs and cats, and even eagles are sometimes
caught in the steel jaw traps used to catch animals used for fur. They are
usually killed.