More than 45,000 people have signed the petition (Picture: Getty Images)

More than 45,000 people have signed a petition to get fur banned from London Fashion Week.

The petition was set up on Change.org a fortnight ago – however, with this season’s LFW officially opening in just two days, the number of signatures has more than doubled over the course of the day.

Soon, it will be personally delivered to the British Fashion Council, which stages LFW twice a year.

Ed Winters, who started the petition, is one of the co-founders of animal rights group Surge.


https://www.facebook.com/surgeactivism/videos/574611536069296/

‘We are delighted with how well the petition has been received,’ Ed told Metro.co.uk.



‘This just shows that fur is no longer wanted or even deemed acceptable by the public, and only exists within the realms of an out-of-touch fashion industry that, instead of being forward-thinking, is reluctant to move beyond its outdated transgressions.’

He said the group also held a two-day protest outside the last LFW in September, and are planning on doing the same this weekend.

Minks peer out of their cages at a pelt farm near the village of Lesino, south-west of Minsk (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)

A caged rabbit in a fur farm in Zhangjiakou, China (Picture: Getty Images)

‘It’s great to see so many people expressing their outrage at LFW for giving a platform to one of the cruelest, most abhorrent industries on the planet,’ he continued.

‘The issue of fur is something that disturbs a whole range of different people, and isn’t only a concern for animal rights activists.

‘The comments on the petition really show that.’

Vogue editor Anna Wintour is a staunch wearer of fur (Picture: Getty Images)

A number of designers already shun fur – for example Stella McCartney, whose designs are all fully vegan, and Vivienne Westwood, who went completely fur-free in 2007.

But at the same time, fur has seen a resurgence in the fashion world over the last few years. Many, many designers are not only continuing to use fur, but often centre entire collections around it.

Writing on the petition, Ed describes in graphic, yet necessary detail how fur-farmed animals are killed.

He writes:

Every year the fur industry is responsible for the death of one billion rabbits and 50million other animals – including foxes, minks, dogs, cats, raccoons, chinchillas, seals and many more. Most of these animals are raised in fur farms, intensive facilities where the animals are kept in tiny cages and confined to a life of misery. These farms can hold thousands of animals and are designed to specifically maximise profits. These animals go insane performing psychotic, repetitive behaviours such as circling endlessly in their cages, as well as cannibalism and self-mutilation. The most common methods of killing animals in fur farms is anal electrocution, gassing, poisoning or stomping on the animals and breaking their necks. These are all done to try and preserve the quality of the fur.

Ed told Metro.co.uk that while protesting outside previous LFWs, he’s realised that a lot of people don’t realise the fur they’re wearing is real.

Your faux fur might actually be real

‘It’s horrible for the people who believe they are making an ethical choice but are actually being lied to, and are inadvertently supporting the very industry they believe their purchase is opposing,’ he added.

Resent investigations have found that ‘faux’ fur at major high street shops was actually made from dead dog, cat and raccoon, imported cheaply from outside the EU.

According to Ed, some people have even stopped in front of them and taken the fur collars off their coats after realising they may not really be faux.

Blue foxes at a fur farm in Babino (Picture: Getty Images)

Animals are killed in brutal ways on fur farms (Picture: Getty Images)

‘Of course, if someone really wants to buy a fur coat then they should always buy faux, which is the only ethical choice,’ he said.

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‘But I always ask people to make sure they are well-researched, so they are sure what they are buying is indeed fake.’

In response to the petition, the British Fashion Council told Metro.co.uk: ‘The British Fashion Council does not dictate what designers can or cannot design and has no control over their creative process. We actively encourage designers to look at best practice in their business and if they do chose to use fur then we encourage them to make ethical choices.’