Raccoon dog fur

An investigation by three animal protection groups into the Chinese fur trade in 2004 and part of 2005 asserts that there are an estimated 1.5 million raccoon dogs being raised for fur in China. The report claims that killing methods include first hitting the animals on the head with a stick or slamming the animal into the ground to stun them, but that "a significant number of animals remain fully conscious during the skinning process and started to writhe and move around." Video taken during the investigation shows a raccoon dog apparently conscious during and after the skinning process. A 2005 follow-up article by the Beijing News reports: "On this particular day around half the raccoon dogs and foxes were skinned alive like this."

The Chinese Government outrageously denies that the country's fur farming methods are cruel, and has even suggested that some of the videos have even been staged, in stark similarity to the recent human rights issues which were also denied despite video evidence to the contrary. Video evidence has been collected from a number of independent sources and all parties agree that the animal abuse and cruelty is consistent and widespread throughout China.

On April 24, 2008, The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) filed a false advertising complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission alleging that at least 20 retailers in the US have been mislabeling fur from raccoon dogs. According to HSUS, 70% of fur garments they tested were raccoon dogs but were mislabeled as faux fur, coyote, rabbit or other animals.

A recent EEC report into the fur trade reported that fur farming in the West has high welfare standards. This evidence was tampered with to such an extent that the top welfare scientists involved have felt compelled to publish this report, saying that their findings had been "politicised".

As far as the raccoon dog, and many other native species such as sable and fox, are concerned, it is claimed by both the trade and academic and conservation sources that fur trade does help protect the habitat of these animals. The University of South Dakota is among those concerned by criticism of the fur trade in terms of conservation.

Many Siberian tribes rely totally for income on fur trade; and 80% of furs are products of the Boreal forest region; up to 22% is native produce, and huge economic damage has been inflicted on native economies by the animal rights movement.
Krasnoyarsk in Evenkyia is just one of the fur producing areas with a large native involvement, and though there are no figures for Raccoon dog, the area produces up to a million animal fur pelts annually in an area where the raccoon dog is indigenous.

With a gene pool of 1.5 million animals claimed above, the raccoon dog is not endangered. A far greater threat in Siberia may be habitat destruction ([http://home.planet.nl/~innusupp/english/forbes2.html]) and disease probably from dogs of workers settling there in communist period; certainly distemper is a transferable disease : [].
A further source for specific clash between oil exploration and habitat destruction versus traditional use is here; .

In undisturbed areas where the animals are hunted for fur (worth noting that the Evenk tribes also have fur farms) they are abundant; in Japan for example the 40,000 to 70,000 raccoon dog hunted for their fur are part of a strict wildlife management plan that enables a healthy population, which is as a result classified as common there.

The WWF have fostered areas of traditional hunting use in Siberia, which have been called sable reserves as the local people are so reliant on the sable (but also fox and raccoon dog which is indigenous) for both food and income from sale of fur.
This detailed study of traditional use in Russia gives an important perspective on economic and ecological factors in the regions fur trade; raccoon dog is an important part.

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