Feathers - PETAesque

kristy2

I've been thinking about this for awhile.

While the look of using real feathers in the wedding is popular and pretty, isn't it cruel?  How are feathers humanely taken from live or killed birds?  Where do they come from?

 Isn't using feathers as decoration just like wearing fur, or am I missing something?

Thoughts/Opinions/Insights?

smokeybailey

Look it up....there were entire populations of birds in the everglades that were decimated for the love of feathers in hats.  That is why having certain feathers (like that of a condor) is completely illegal.

So, yes, feathers in some cases are like fur.

polichik

Definitely. I was more referring to things like chicken feather in down stuff.

I really never got the whole peacock feather things. As far as I know, there aren't that many peacocks wandering around. Except probably in India... I heard them calling all the time.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

Peacocks shed their feathers, I think. At least, at the Toronto Zoo, where they do have peacocks wandering around, you come across peacock feathers.

Knowing humanity, though, peacocks might not molt often enough to turn a profit, so...

sucrets4

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_feathers-petaesque?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:38d75cff-5b3d-48c2-a83c-c5f8f5d2472fPost:811502ff-92ba-44be-a00f-46be79fe7cd7">Re: Feathers - PETAesque</a>:
[QUOTE]It depends on how you feel. Personally, even though I'm a vegetarian, I'm comfortable using leather products and feathers (I have a down vest, for example). In my mind, things like that are different than fur because they're byproducts of harvesting the animal for meat. If it's going to be killed anyway, I'd rather have less of its body go to waste. Whereas it's pretty rare for somebody to both eat and wear mink. Animals that are killed for fur are rarely raised on farms and are slaughtered for their fur while the meat and carcass are discarded.
Posted by polichik[/QUOTE]

I'm the same way as poli.

I can't wear leather or suede coats, though - the smell is just too much.

Once I had to wear this suede costume for a show, and every time I put it on I wanted to gag.  It was like wearing a dead animal and was uber gross.

polichik

Yeah Sucrets, the smell definitely gets to me. I have one leather purse and one leather pair of boots, but I don't think I could put a garmet of it directly on my skin.

kristy2

I was really hoping that someone would have good evidence and insight on "oh, the birds are well maintained, treated well, in lovely enclosures with pleanty of space and the keepers just go around and pick up lost feathers when they fall out naturally."

So I guess I'm justified in the bad feelings I get when I see bouquets of exotic feathers.  I hope this at least made some people think about the animals and consider it for themselves.

glam70s

I don't know about other birds, but for peacocks, the feathers are sometimes picked up after falling out naturally, sometimes not. Peacocks only have those tails once a year for about 2-3 months during mating season. I have heard of instances where the feathers are taken before they fall out, because this will often cause them to regrow (twice the 'harvest' in one season), and because they'll be cleaner and in better shape if they're not dragged around in the dirt for very long. And I've never heard of anyone eating a peacock.

I think, however, that ostrich and emu feathers are just like chicken feathers. Those birds are usually killed for meat and other products, so it's not much different from leather.

I love peacock feathers and do have quite a few of them (my whole bedroom is peacock themed), but I know that mine were taken humanely because I worked somewhere there were peacocks walking around and i picked up each of the feathers myself. I would be comfortable using emu or ostrich feathers because I don't have a problem with using leather.

glam70s

I forgot to mention, many of the smaller 'exotic' looking feathers come from different kinds of pheasants, which are also eaten for food..

shigaites

"As far as I know, there aren't that many peacocks wandering around."

My grandmother raises peacocks on her farm.  They're more common than you'd think

cqbride

Some feathers are shed naturally, and some require that the bird get killed. If you object to the latter, then there are a plethora of websites that offer cruelty-free feathers. Frankly, there aren't all that many types of feathers available on the market today due to stringent bird protection laws. Most types of exotic feathers haven't been available for around 100 years. I believe both ostrich and peacock can be harvested humanely; and coque, pheasant, and goose all come from game birds where the bodies can be used for other things (I'm not saying that this actually happens, mind you, but it's possible). There really aren't artificial feathers on the market, so there aren't a lot of options in that respect.