Cat fur

Cat leather and cat fur mainly comes from East Asia and is used as fur collars on clothing or for stuffed animals. Up until the 1970s, cat skins were sold as rheumatic protection in Europe by pharmacies.

According to estimates, two million cats and dogs are processed worldwide this way every year.

Cat fur is forbidden to sell in a lot of countries. According to REGULATION (EC) No 1523/2007 and by the German Animal Products Trading Act (TierErzHaVerbG), it is generally prohibited to sell cat fur and dog fur, as well as products containing such fur in the EU, or from the EU to other destinations. Crossing borders for non-business reasons is permitted.

These regulations relate only to fur of cats and dogs. The hairless leather of dogs and cats is therefore not prohibited. There is no explanation for this. Even teeth, claws or bones should not be subject to any prohibition. Nor do the hair of the animals without skin.

The consumption of cat or dog meat is regulated in Germany. This is prohibited in Germany according to § 22 of the Food Hygiene Ordinance.

In order to avoid the word "cat", which is unpleasant to the western customer, the traders use names such as "Lipi", "Genotte", "mountain cat", "wild cat" or just "orthopedic leather". The origin is usually the domestic cat.

Even for professionals, it is difficult to recognize which animal a fur is from. Therefore it can not be excluded that such furs or leather are processed in Asia and imported into Europe.