Is using mohair fur okay?

I don't think its bad, but its not something I would have an interest in. I don't eat MOST meat, but that's a digestive enzyme problem. My issue with fur and leather is purely out of affection. I loooove animals, I break for opossums, turtles, raccoons, dear, anything. I will go out of my way not to hit dead animals on the road. I would rather drive into a ditch. And have. >>;

I do not want any wigs that are still attached to hide. Its like eating my food. I don't want it to be recognisable as any part of an animal by the time it reaches me. If I buy a fur wig, it will be faux fur as much a possible. I won't by real leather shoes, coats, anything. Pleather is good enough for me, faux fur is good enough for me. In my mind the animal is still alive and happy and probably frolicking with its little critter friends in some field somewhere. I still firmly believe what my uncle told me about frog legs.

Somewhere there is a river where frogs limp about with tiny crutches and wheelchairs because they have no back legs any more. It comforts me. I'm just WEIRD darnit, and I don't like to think about killing anything. X-x;

 

I own a hobby flock of sheep. And I just sent ten of them to the market, where they were undoubtedly sold to a meat packer. I've also had some slaughtered humanely on premises by friends and put them in my freezer. I cannot slaughter them myself and I don't eat them myself (too attached to them and I don't like the taste), but my family does.

I'm not necessarily happy about that, but I have little choice. Sheep have one or two lambs a year. If you do not cull the excess males in some way, you end up in the situation I was in, with over 40 sheep on 7 acres. Now, you can buy wethers (neutered male sheep) and just keep them if you want wool, or a flock entirely of ewes. But I breed so that I have replacement animals. They just give me more replacement animals than I can use. I can't afford to feed all of the excess males and I'm having to recondition my pastures now because they were damaged by two years of drought and overgrazing. I try to sell to fellow hobbyists when possible, but they don't take every lamb I produce. It took me a while to reach this point, but now I'm all about a sustainable population. It's just healthier for the animals, and the money from the ones I sell goes to supporting the others. It doesn't begin to cover the expense, but it does help. Next year, I'm not going to breed at all, so that I can attrition my population down, and I might just start skipping alternate years as a way to get a handle on things.

I can respect the beliefs of people who are vegetarians or vegans. I know that factory farming is inhumane and damaging to the environment. But the environment is also damaged by the chemicals involved in the creation of synthetic leathers and fibers. The resin in your doll may very well be more damaging to the environment (and kill more animals through the destruction of habitat) than the wool you put on its head. I think you have to be aware of the consequences of all your choices. Primitive man did plenty of damage to his local environment by overgrazing and depletion of resources without any of our modern technology or needs.

And I don't have a problem with hunters, though I'm not one myself. We've pretty much removed all the predators at the top of the food chain who culled the herbivores. Without that regulating mechanism, the prey population explodes and then disease and starvation have to take the place of predation. I used to live near a Marine base with a sizable deer population. They let hunters onto the base from time to time when the deer had overpopulated. The deer would become smaller and stunted because of lack of food and disease would become an issue. They would come out on the roads in great numbers and be hit by vehicles in droves. Hunters pay a lot of money to support habitat for their prey. I think that in their way they do more for conservation than a lot of so-called animal activists. I don't much care for trophy hunters, but I know several people who hunt for food. And a deer hit by a car in this neck of the woods won't stay by the road long at all, if it is undamaged enough to be edible.

Buying or not buying a pelted mohair wig is a personal decision. I can tell you that whether you buy your doll a wig from that part of the world or not, those sheep are going to continue to be slaughtered and eaten, and their pelts utilized in some way or the other. They are a resource and the only wealth that some of those folks have. And wefted mohair is not necessarily shorn off of a live animal-it may be shorn off the hide. You have to ask if it is specifically live-shorn. And even if it is, I can guarantee that there's probably some culling in that flock, regardless. There is no such thing as a no-kill livestock establishment.

If you really want to do something for the animals of this planet, the most useful thing you can do would be to support initiatives for controlling human population growth. There are way too many of us on this rock, and we are utilizing much more of the resources and habitat than is healthy for the planet. Like any other animal, if we don't stop breeding, Nature will find ways to regulate us, either by war or disease.

 

Thank you!
I'm not sure if those people are the reason why I always got asked if I eat fish, after I've said that I'm vegetarian. It's annoying and people should know that vegetarians don't eat ANY animals.

A lot of vegetarians wear leather and as I've said before I am one of them, but not without feeling a bit guilty.

Isabeau said something very smart, when she mentioned that the resin itself or synthetic wigs damage the environment and if we just think how much waste we produce every day... I ask myself what's worse: a synthetic or a woolen wig? We can decide between a product that damages the environment and another product that is made of sheered animal hair.

It's difficult or even impossible to live a life without polluting the environment or hurting other creatures. To me it's important to prioritize and that's why I stopped eating animals. It's good to see that many people here care about animals and the environment and I'm glad when everyone just contributes a little bit.

 

PETA is a vile and despicable organization, whose president gave a very famous quote saying that AIDS was a lifestyle choice, therefore no excuse for animal research for a cure. It is also incredible to me that someone who was at all concerned with the preservation of life on any level would make a death threat. That is just sick.
In a culture where we have absolutely no regard for human life, where the respect for humanity is nil, people have a lot of gall going to those extremes for animals when we kill unborn babies every day for people's convienience, punish crimes by taking the criminals life, engage in a culture of war, and treat the elderly and disabled like garbage.
If you want to support a cause, I think that is grand, but no one has the right to threaten someone else because they don't agree with them. Seriously.
I am more interested in the health of the planet, and the processing of fur is much more "green" than the processing of most synthetics. Fur is also a renewable resource.
Let me make just one pre-flaming disclaimer, I don't believe in cruelty to animals, but I do eat meat, wear fur, and use animal by-products. I however support anyone in their right to pursue a vegan lifestyle, but IMO it is ridiculous.
Animals are not more important than people, and they are on earth for our use in a respectful way, just like any other resource.
Oh, and as for the original question, yes, Mohair is OK.

 

I've got no use for PETA myself. I used to show my dogs and for a while there, PETA activists were running around to dog shows, sneaking in among people's set-ups and letting the dogs loose. Because presumably the little Maltese with no survival skills was better off being lost, dying of exposure, thirst or hunger, being eaten by coyotes or hit by a car than by serving man's vanity in the show ring.

There are a lot of difficult ethical questions involved in the production of our beloved luxury items, the dolls. Does the resin poison the environment? Is the wool for the wigs produced from animals processed in a humane manner? Were those adorable $6.95 sneakers produced in a sweatshop? I've come to the conclusion that I want my dolls, I'm not going to get rid of them and will probably obtain more in the future. So perhaps the best thing to do is make sure that my other lifestyle choices make up for it-that I limit my driving, recycle, buy my meat and produce locally if possible, eat less meat, make do with less in other areas of my life, that sort of thing.

 

Isabeau, you are a very intelligent and well informed and well spoken human.

 

How do you feel about using a mohair wig on your doll?
I feel perfectly confortable with it. Being a selfish little human, i care more about myself and my stuff than animals life, also considering that i eat animals all the time, and the chemicals from the vegetables also indirectly killed other animals and such. I like fur wigs, and buy them. They're pretty, nice and do not stain my doll's head.

 

QFE!

Raven

 

Yes ~ thank you!! I completely agree with this.

 

Sorry for going off topic, but I do think some of the points in this post need to be addressed. I am vegan, however that doesn't mean I support PETA or that animals are the only focus of my beliefs.

I live in a country where there is no death penalty and I don't support the death penalty. I am pro-choice, but anti-abortion - contradictory perhaps, however even when abortion has been made illegal there are still those that seek it as an option and I would rather they had a safe way to pursue that than in some unhygienic back alley. And yes, I am anti-war... and I try where possible to buy products that are not produced in sweatshops.

I believe the way disabled and elderly people are often treated is terrible and I do what I can to raise awareness. I've spent time working with both the disabled and elderly and am considered to have a disability myself. I also don't plan on having children of my own instead I would prefer to foster children in need or adopt.

As for leather and fur production, it isn't always a greener alternative to synthetics or at least not according to the research I've done.

To me this is all part of being vegan - ultimately it's about respect for all living beings human or non-human.

Please don't lump those of us that choose for an ethical, moral or religious/spiritual reason to not use animal products together as 'animal rights nuts' because it's probably not the case. (And I apologize if this post comes off as being all holier than thou, but I really don't like the assumption that I am some kind of animal rights extremist or animal rights extremist being labeled as 'nutters' which can be offensive to those with mental illnesses.)

So yes, I do think using mohair is wrong.

 

I have a friend, who is vegetarian. In our refectory at school there are always two foods to choose , one vegetarien and one not. Actually. But it happens, that at some days they sell noodles with salmon and cutlet with chips or two different pizzas, one with ham and one with tuna.
And then she sits there and eats nothing! Why do people belive, that vegetarians eat fish? I don´t understand it!
After maybe one year my friend told him, that vegetarians eat no fish.
He looked ca. like that:
Well, now there is also pizza with vegetables

So, now something on-topic: Yes, I think it is ok to use mohair-wigs. I mean, I also eat meat and wear boots made of leather, so it would be kinda silly to say: No, I think it´s wrong!
To all the people who say it´s wrong ( i don´t want to offend someone!):
Do you really never wear leather, do you never eat fruit gums (they contain-don´t know the word-, is made of bones), even toothpaste has this in it!e You nearly always make something "wrong"
So, that´s my opinion.

 

No, I don't wear leather and try to avoid it as much as possible when it comes to my doll clothing even though I still eat meat (I don't chew fruit gum either). Likewise, I won't buy mohair wigs with the skin still attached to them. Without getting into my own personal views on animal rights and whatnot, on a purely face value I simply find the idea of wearing something else's skin like in real leather jackets or those crocodile skin wallets kind of disgusting. It squicks me out in the same way as it did when I first learned about lampshades made out of human skin. Animal or human, skin is skin. So if I know from the beginning, such as with mohair wigs, that it is made with the animal's skin still attached, I stay away from it (same with if I think there's a possbility it is made from real animal skin, I will try and ask). As it is, I think I only have one pair of doll boots now that are possibly made from real leather, and even they are a stretch for me in keeping around.

 

To answer your question I never wear leather, I don't eat fruit gums or anything containing gelatin and my toothpaste is not tested on animals and contains no animal ingredients. The same applies to all my make-up and beauty products. The only exception is my medication which I have no choice but to take.

 

From a purely functional point of view, mohair skin wigs are better for some hair styles. Unlike wefted wigs you can style them and not have to worry about the wefts showing.

 

I am a lifelong vegetarian (raised as such) and do not wear leather or fur. This is my personal choice; I do not judge other people for their eating habits, any more than I would for their religion, their politics, or their favorite color. (I'm married to an omnivore, for what it's worth )

Wool of any kind is a tough one for me. I grew up near a number of small farms, where the sheep were treated more like pets than livestock and shearing was done in a humane fashion. However, I know that a great deal of wool comes from factory farms, where the animals live in terrible conditions. Another issue is the practice of mulesing (removing flesh from the tail area to prevent flystrike). While the practice is being phased out in favor of more humane alternatives, it is still performed on many farms without anesthesia or painkillers. As a result, I tend to avoid wool unless I have a good idea of where it came from.

In general, I don't think it's ever a bad thing to put some thought into the origins of the products we use, whether it be doll wigs or anything else. That way, the individual can make an choice that s/he feels comfortable with.

 

I'm not a vegetarian, but a lot of people assume I am! I eat very little meat, especially in restaurants where I'm not sure about the origins of the meat. I do care about animal welfare and I am against vivisection (particularly for ridiculous things like beauty products), but I do use animal products. Leather and wool are wonderfully durable and a lot more environmentally friendly than synthetic alternatives; it costs a lot more environmentally to produce a synthetic wig than a Tibetan lambskin one.

I like the look and feel of mohair wigs and I own a couple of Tinybear crafted wigs, but they are very rarely used because I greatly prefer synthetic wigs, I think they are easier to look after and retain their style much better. As an environmentally conscious person, I'm not happy to be contributing to the pollution of the world by buying synthetic wigs, however, I rationalise this by taking care of all the wigs in my possession, so they were not a waste product or a waste purchase, I also buy more used wigs than brand new ones and I sell on the wigs I no longer use, which keeps them in circulation and means not as many new synthetic wigs have to be made to meet demand.

The same could be said of BJDs themselves, since they are not made of an environmentally-friendly substance...but thankfully you don't see BJDs gracing landfill sites. Their luxury item status stops them from being as disposable as other types of doll.

It all comes down to personal choice. I think as long as it makes sense to you and it fits with your personal ethics, go for it. No one has the right to tell you what you can and cannot buy.

 

I agree 110%. In wanting to do what's "best" for animals, people sometimes end up doing what's worst. Perhaps it's being too divorced from the natural world where animals are killed by other animals which keeps the populations healthy. Sometimes it seems that people's hearts are in the right places, but they have no clue about the animals they're trying to "save." I care very much about animal welfare, but some of the animal rights folks do more harm than good.There's a big deer overpopulation problem here, but when the topic comes up about getting people in to cull the population, people pitch fits and it never happens. They just can't get it through their heads that it's not healthy for the animals to be overpopulated to that extreme.

As for using animal products...I do eat some meat, and if meat is going to be used, then I would rather the skins be used as well. I do, however, avoid fur made from animals specifically raised for their pelts only.

 

Well, The way I see it as long as every part of the animal is used for something, and it isn't just killed for the pelt I'm ok with it. Most animals are, so I don't pay much attention. I am against how they treat them though. Nothing deserves to be treated that way.

 

It doesn't bother me at all but I do understand why it could bother others.