J Michael Shoes, a prominent clothing store on Marshall Street with the catchy slogan “If it’s hot, it’s here,” signed an agreement in 2007 announcing its discontinuation of all the store’s fur products. This was done in response to members of the Syracuse Animal Rights Organization talking to the owner, John Vavalo Sr., about the abhorrent treatment of animals used in the fur industries. Since then, ownership has been passed down to Vavalo’s son, also named John Vavalo, who has gone back on the fur free pledge of 2007 and is once again selling fur products.

This regression is extremely disappointing. J Michael Shoes is supporting an industry that perpetuates a violent practice and commoditization of animals, while under the illusion that fur can be produced ethically. Surprise — it can’t. J Michael Shoes should stay true to its word and cut ties with its fur providing vendors for good.

John Vavalo, the current owner of J Michael, said that in reintroducing fur back into the store, he has made sure that he only sources from credible, humane vendors. J Michael buys from a company called Canada Goose, which in turn buys its fur from the North American Fur Auctions, which, according to its policy promises to, “ensure that all animals are captured humanely and that the animals are not endangered.”

It’s important to address the idea that there can be ethical fur. There are varying levels of brutality from fur company to fur company, but even the most regulated of companies kill innocent animals and should not be seen as ethical. The idea that humane fur is possible must be debunked to give the consumer a chance to label how ethical fur is for themselves.

“The normalization of animal products is perpetuated by the companies that continue to sell them despite the great amount of suffering production entails,” said SARO president Warren Gray.

Amber Canavan, a member of SARO and a local animal rights activist, echoed common anti-fur sentiments. “A lot of people don’t even realize that the fur trim on jackets comes from real, dead animals because they think fur is expensive,” Canavan said the same interview.

This notion that the customers are unaware of what they are supporting is a dangerous sentiment, one that is only heightened by the spin off industry of “faux” fur.

“I think fake fur has become so normalized that people are being tricked into buying a product that they would actually be very against supporting,” adds Canavan. “Many brands and stores have been caught selling jackets labeled as fake fur, but were actually made from real fur.”

Fur companies like NAFA use rhetorical tools such as claiming to better the lives of indigenous Native Americans through employment to justify their harmful practice.

“To use employment as a justification for the continuation of a brutal, unnecessary practice distracts from the real issues,” said SARO member Audrey Thompson in an interview. “Employment can be reworked but for the animals that are killed, that’s it.”

It’s important for J Michael to assert itself, again, as an establishment supportive of animal welfare, but it’s equally important for customers to understand the violent industry they are supporting every time they buy fur.

“If nobody was buying it, we wouldn’t sell it,” said Vavalo.

Only time will tell if J Michael will once again prioritize animal life over making a profit but until then, customers can be assured of one thing: If it’s caught, it’s here.

Azor Cole is a junior public relations major and geography minor. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at azcole@syr.edu and followed on Twitter at @azor_cole.

Published on February 12, 2015 at 12:15 am