Committed to exposing the realities of the fur trade and educating the consumer, The HSUS began with the Shame of Fur campaign in 1988. Subsequently, the acceptability of fur declined dramatically, as has the number of animals suffering for the sake of fashion. Fur is on its way out. Cage-Raised Fur More than 30 million animals, mostly minks and foxes, are killed each year on what the fur industry refers to as fur farms or ranches. These facilities are little more than a series of small wire cages lined up in an open shed.
Animals suffer in extreme confinement and poor housing conditions.
Many of them exhibit behavioral disorders such as constant pacing, self-mutilation, and infanticide. Many suffer physical abnormalities due to inbreeding. Yet fur promoters tell the public that the caged-fur industry is humane. Most in the fur industry and the anti-fur movement attribute this decline to a lack of profits and an uncertain future. In 1993 there were 43 fur facilities in Austria.