Fur flies as Hank Johnson attacks pet hair industry

Earlier this year, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) said he was worried the island of Guam might capsize.
His most recent worry is equally quirky, albeit much more realistic: clothing made from cats and dogs.

Johnson took to the House floor last Wednesday to protest deceptive labeling practices by Chinese clothing manufacturers intent on selling “dog and cat fur to American consumers.”

“In Chinese factories, many domestic dogs and cats are brutally killed and sometimes even skinned alive for their fur,” Johnson said, noting that some of the “dog fur” is being sold in the U.S. under deliberately incorrect labels.

Johnson took issue with a “fur loophole” present in a 1951 law that exempts items worth less than $150 from the strict labeling rules that expensive fur garments are subject to.

“Exporters use this loophole to deceptively sell products made from cat and dog fur,” Johnson said, “as though they were made from faux fur or the fur of other animals.”

Until Johnson succeeds in closing the loophole, consumers beware: Chinese dog hair is sometimes marketed as “Asian wolf,” and cat fur is called “mountain cat,” according to an ABC News report.

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