RE: Fur Industry in China [semi-OT]:
One reason that those marvelous people in Europe and in the U.S. who
were working on the project to save those Danish ferrets were working so
hard is because that breeder is in the fur business and he lives not far
from the world's largest fur market.  Over half of the furs sold in the
world pass through
http://www.kopenhagenfur.com/sw3249.asp
http://www.furcommission.com/news/newsF07q.htm (in English)
 
Pages 17-20 are on polecats and ferrets:
http://www.infurmation.com/library/pdf/eurocomm01.pdf
and not only is not upsetting but will be of interest to FML readers.  It
predates the control of American Mink in many areas which is changing the
proportions of native animals in those locales.
 
There ARE places in China which provide fitch fur (domestic ferret and
polecat fur):
http://www.fur-china.com/ficth.htm
(DO NOT ALTER THE SPELLING.  That is the configuration which works.)
 
The markets:
http://www.furs.com/FUR/FurAge3.html
(Old but perhaps useful)
 
In the U.S. according to a number of news stories we have encountered
through the years the economic segment which has been growing most
steadily in fur purchasing for quite some time has been the poorer one,
though in recent years that market is increasing in other groups.  With
fitch not being one of the pricier furs and with furs increasingly bought
in recent decades by people who have low incomes you would be far more
likely to find it adorning a person who shares an apartment or lives in a
trailer than associated with a mansion, so if anyone here wants to take
on an education project to try to tackle the fitch market a reminder to
follow who is buying at any time could be helpful.  I do not know which
country has the highest fitch import level in finished garments.
 
The Ferret Aid Society has a page on the topic with a great deal of
information on the 15,000 domestic ferrets who meet this fate:
http://www.ferretaid.org/cruelty/fur_farms.html
 
There are other impacts.  Steve and I have had ferrets from fur farms
as pets decades ago, back when the increase in the domestic ferret pet
industry created better prices and those places were competing with the
(then) 2 farms which had never sold to the fur industry (MF and PV).
The fur farms charged less than MF or PV did so their fitch were in a
number of stores.  These individuals had not been raised for temperament,
for health, or for longevity.  The entire focus was on coat types.  The
result was that they had some magnificent coats with all sorts of
variations, but they bit easily (and deeply), tended to be very nervous
and need a lot of reassurance, and they had terrible health and very
shortened lives even with careful vet care.
 
U.S. fur fitch farms do exist today:
http://www.msue.msu.edu/msue/imp/modsr/sr499201.html
(Seven year old resource, but...)
 
http://www.iftf.com/farming.asp
 
It isn't as if faux fur fitch ones weren't available so fakes can be
gotten instead of real ferret fur:
http://www.theshoppingchannel.com/product_detail.asp?
departmentId=1369&templateCode=PD&itemId=356069
 
I really do not know if there is anyone here who would like to tackle
this as a project, but a "Think Globally, Act Locally" approach could
make this a great project for HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS who can also involve
their own ferrets by showing how loving, smart and cute they are.  That
type of peer and hands-on approach is often very effective long term.
[Posted in FML issue 4813]