It’ll cost you a few hundred pounds if you fancy buying a coat lined with hamster fur.

However it will also cost the lives of over 100 hamsters.

Despite causing this deplorable waste of life, it is perfectly legal to buy such a coat in the UK.

Thankfully, fashion house Farfetch have recognised that this is not acceptable, and has not only removed their hamster fur coat from their website, but has committed to going entirely fur-free.

This means furs from lynx, beaver, fox and mink are also set to disappear from their stock by December this year.

But while Farfetch has chosen to make this smart move during a time where selling fur is becoming increasingly unpopular, there are still plenty of retailers offering a variety of animal skins to UK shoppers.

‘Luxury’ department store Harrods has plenty of real fur products to choose from; there are scarves, ear muffs, shoes, bags, hats, gloves, collars, keychains and a selection of jackets and coats, including one coat made from kangaroo fur.

One especilly disturbing item, aimed at children, is a teddy bear made from real rabbit fur. The product description states that the teddy’s “ultra-soft fur and friendly face make him a treasured companion for your little one.”

Harrods does not seem to care that all of these items are made from animals who have been neglected, abused and deprived of every single one of their freedoms.

And it’s not just expensive department stores who line their shelves with fur products. Real fur has been made available to everyone with the click of a button through online platforms such as eBay, from sellers who simply do not care about the suffering animals go through in order for humans to take their fur.

Ultimately, we cannot keep relying on the sellers to turn away from trading fur. If the UK is to stop fueling this awful trade, the law needs to change.

We are calling on the government to make it illegal to sell fur, to reflect the fact that it is completely against our nation’s values to support an industry which sees animals either caught in cruel traps, or kept in tiny wire cages before being electrocuted, gassed or beaten to death.

By e-mailing Michael Gove at [email protected] and asking for a fur sales ban, and signing the petition at  https://banfursales.org/, you can help create a better world for animals.

Originally written by Catherine Reda.