This item caught my attention:I am not an animal rights activist, but the way this fur is obtained goes against Torah. WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT: TORAH LAW, OR A RELATIVELY RECENT JEWISH CUSTOM? WHERE IS THE PERSPECTIVE?

3. Animals are skinned alive in China's fur farms

And THAT'S THE REASON for the ban on furs from Asia. Animals are skinned while still alive so that the fur will be in better condition and in one piece.

"The animals are stunned with repeated blows to the head, or just slammed on the ground ...they convulse or attempt to crawl away and the skinning can start while the animal is conscious or regaining consciousness...Desperate and writhing in agony, animals conscious during these procedures hopelessly try to defend themselves even to the point where all the skin had been forced off breathing, heart beat and eyelid movements were evident for 5 to 10 minutes,"

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Cats-Dogs-and-Foxes-Skinned-Alive-in-China-for-Their-Fur-59857.shtml

The videos:

http://www.peta.org/feat/chineseFurFarms/index.asp

The factories:

http://www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=56

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"The Torah prohibits the torture or causing of pain to any living creature. One is duty bound to save every living creature from pain or distress, even if it has no owner" (Hayim Halevy Donin, To Be a Jew [New York: Basic Books, 1972]). The general term for the mitzvah of kindness to animals is tsaar baalei chayim, "the pain of living things." See Exodus 20:10, 23:12: Leviticus 22:26-33; Deuteronomy 12: 21, 22:10; Isaiah 11; Talmud, Berakhot 40a, Hullin 1-2.

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Major Concepts of the Talmud:
An Encyclopedic Resource Guide: Alef to Gimmel
By Rabbi Pinchas Doron-Spalter

Ever Min Hachai - A Limb from a Living Animal

The prohibition against eating a limb that was separated from a living animal or bird. This prohibition is a negative mitzvah and someone who transgresses it is flogged.

1. The type of animals. Ever min hachai applies to kosher animals,beasts and birds, and not to non-kosher ones. One may cut a limb from fish and locusts while they are alive and eat it without violating this prohibition. However, one will transgress another prohibition — "Bal teshkatzu," "Do not act abominably."²

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3. When does the prohibition take effect? A limb that was cut from an animal that was in its death throes (mefarkeses) after a non-kosher slaughtering or in the course of a natural death is considered ever min hachai.

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5. The prohibition for non-Jews. Ever min hachai is included in the seven Noahide Laws (sheva mitzvos B'nei No'ach) and non-Jews are liable for it in regard to both kosher and non-kosher animals. But they are not liable for it in regard to creeping creatures (sheratzim). Non-Jews are liable for ever min hachai of an animal in its death throes (mefarkeses). ..... A non-Jew is liable for ever min hachai in the smallest amount.
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MK Moses: Don't Ban My Shtreimel

Sivan 23, 5769, 15 June 09 11:26

by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

(IsraelNN.com) Knesset Member Menachem Eliezer Moses, chairman of the Haredi-religious United Torah Judaism party, has found that an animal welfare bill supported by the government could make his shtreimel an endangered species. The shtreimel is a unique fur hat traditionally worn by members of Hassidic sects on special occasions.

The proposed legislation, which gained the cabinet's support, was brought to the attention of the broader coalition leadership forum on Monday. The amendment to the Animal Welfare Law would outlaw the import of products made from the fur of dogs, cats or rabbits. Specifically noted are furs imported from east Asia. The penalty for violation of the clause, which would be treated as a criminal offense, would be up to a year in jail.

MK Moses wants fur imported for use in making shtreimels be exempted from the general prohibition. "It is inconceivable," he said, "to support a bill that outlaws imports for such a clear and important religious need."

Moses, who is a Belzer Hassid and also a rabbi, explained to the coalition representatives the meaning and importance of the shtreimel to the sector his party represents.

The UTJ leader was at pains to explain that he does not oppose the proposed law entirely, "but I request that the law include an appropriate exception stating that import for religious purposes will not be infringed and will not be considered a violation of the law." With a call for the government ministers to amend the law, MK Moses added, "We are not in the Middle Ages, when Jews were forbidden to use explicitly Jewish symbols."

The shtreimel can be made from genuine or synthetic fur, with the latter actually more common among Israeli Hassidic Jews than those overseas. The Rebbe of the Gerrer Hassidic sect, in fact, issued an edict that his followers may only purchase spodiks (a style of shtreimel) made of fake fur and that cost less than $600.

A GOOD COMPROMISE WOULD BE A DEMAND THAT THE FUR BE OBTAINED BY OTHER MEANS, COMPATIBLE WITH TORAH LAW, I WOULD THINK!AFTER ALL, THE GERRER REBBE FOUND A SOLUTION, SO WHY CAN'T ALL REBBES FIND AN APPROPRIATE SOLUTION? I AM NOT SAYING THE STREIMEL, OR THE SPODIK, IS NOT IMPORTANT: I AM SAYING, FIND A WAY TO PRODUCE THEM IN WAYS THAT DON'T VIOLATE TORAH LAW. AS REBBES, THAT SHOULD BE YOUR FOREMOST PRIORITY.

DS