Lippi fur: color me deeply disturbed

MagsRags

MagsRags

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I came across a listing on eBay last night for a "lippi fur coat"
http://tinyurl.com/25p7jon

They looked suspiciously like leopard and that led me to do a little online research. Turns out "Lippi" hit the fashion world about 4 years ago and is being used by many designers. I came across a NY Times fashion column from 2006 that had lippi fur as one of their top fashion trends. The problem is that there is really no such thing in nature as a lippi. In some cases, it's a cover for legally selling real endangered leopards. There are also ugly rumors that a lot of lippi fur comes from domestic Chinese house cats. But apparently, most lippi fur is a result of breeding leopards and domestic cats together. Similar interbreeding is being done with Geoffreys and servals. The resulting hybrids are referred to as Bengal cats, Savannahs, and Safaris. Some are sold as very expensive and beautiful pets - those frequently end up in rescues or destroyed when they reach adulthood and become unmanageable. The rest go into the fur market. Reading the stories on the website of a Florida big-cat sanctuary made it hard for me to sleep last night.
http://www.bigcatrescue.org/cats/wild/hybrids.htm

BTW I do not belong to PETA and do not have a problem with the idea of wearing most vintage furs. But this really got to me.

One last link that illustrates how folks are trying to skirt around the implications and ethics of this, a sample page on selling "lippi fur" from a book about how to succeed with an ebay business:
http://tinyurl.com/2dnhlm7
 
So people are making 'Frankencats' to circumvent the laws on use of spotted cat fur? Nothing surprises me anymore...

I recently learned that PETA is not a charitable organization! They lost their status because they are a political lobbying group!
 
That's very disturbing. I had no idea, and am glad to be informed.

Re PETA, I don't know a great deal about them, but I do know it's not uncommon for organisations supporting certain causes to not be able to have charitable status because their activities are viewed as political. Amnesty International and Greenpeace are similar. They are non-profit organisations, but not charities, as political lobbying precludes charitable status, and in their cases, their causes are intrinsically political.
 
Oh that is so sad. :(

There is a lady here in my neighborhood who is a registered breeder of savannahs and she is awesome. She is SOOOO strict in the people who she will sell a cat to. I liken it to child adoption as she does background checks and everything, but this is good because these cats are not for everyone as is evidenced by the cat rescue posted above. I'm glad to know that there are responsible breeders out there that are not just in it for the money though.

Her cats are stunning by the way. And intelligent as all get out. They are very much like a dog in temprement and walk well on a leash. They are about twice the size of a medium house cat and look very exotic.
 
There is a thrift shop by my house selling a spotted fur coat - it feels very very real to me. I told them I wasn't sure they could legally sell but they do not care. I am not very familiar with topic but told her she should look into at least - got a glazed over look and the sound of crickets chirping in response.

She is passing off as vintage - it clearly isn't. I metioned that too - she also didn't care - not too shocking.
 
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