Banner Sponsors
For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)http://news.yahoo.com/story//afp/200808 … adaoffbeat
At least they're meeting... I wonder if it'll do any good.
It will take a very long time to change 'Tradition'
OMG......I had no idea! The whole thing is appalling IMO, when there are so many alternatives to real fur anymore. I am wondering though.....why does it take one bear for each hat? And to think so many new hats are needed each year. It makes me just sick to think about it...........
Past Time BearsUgh! Enough, already . . . let's start using synthetic fur, please.
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)The song "Tradition! TRADITION!! keeps running through my head - from one of the musicals from the Rogers & Hammerstein-ilk days... Fiddler on the Roof? My Fair Lady?? Something out of the late 50s to late 60s.
It reminds me of ppl setting in their heels - "... but we've ALWAYS done it THIS way..."
Past Time BearsFiddler on the Roof.
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)Thank you, my Musical Memory; my DH agrees with you (and not the other way around in my book!)
But I never listen to him until I get at least one more vote in his column!!!
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
Back Road BearsI'm with you Tracy.... that's SICK! And a whole bear?????
Yeah, they need to get with the times! Mohair? Alpaca? Are they too processed by the time they become the fabric that we use to have their original oily, animal properties that make the fiber withstand the elements? Probably. But maybe there is some special way to process it.
So, I'm confussed... they've changed the shape/size of the hat and plan to put that proposal to the MoD? So, what, it'll only take 3/4 of a bear per hat? 
Is there a bear farm in Canada just for the Brits? That's seems like a lot of bears per year from one place!!!
FenBeary FolkIt says "most tourists are unaware that real fur is still used"
I would think that the majority of the UK public do not know real fur is used and 50-100 bears are slaughtered each year
I like the tourists had thought that they had changed to faux fur years ago 
Absolutely Sue !! it's completely outrageous and defies belief !
Whilst our military heritage is part of the draw and spectacle of our country that does not excuse using a substance that
looks so much better on animals - live ones !!
Where's the petition ???
:pray: :pray:
Ruth
LuxembearsOh I had no idea either that they used bear fur for these hats. Oh my. Yes, It is time to get with the timers and switch to faux fur. It would be lighter anyway. Leave the bears alone.
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)Well, as long as we're on inappropriate uses of 'bears', doncha think that they could come up with another animal for this use than a TEDDY bear!!???, Like.... maybe, a shark?
Chaska, MinnesotaThat is so awful!!! Senseless killing of bears all in the name of "tradition"? If we follow “tradition†, we'd still be doing "human sacrifices" to appease the Gods!!! It's time to for a change....Good luck to PETA in their quest.
Woodbury Park BearsSurely in this day and age someone could come up with an alternative that could meet all parties expectations. When I was a young one I was a marching girl and many of our uniforms had busby hats (same style as the guards hats) as our head gear but they were not made from bears and we wore them in all weathers week in week out.
Raewyn
Waggle BearsI agree with all of you. This is just sickening. Maybe people in the UK will rise up and do something...or maybe the PETA people will pick it up. It absolutely seem that there could be some reasonable substitute that can be waterproofed. It seems such a friviolous excuse to try and justify the killing of these bears.
Posts: 3,540Ah.....sorry, I grew up raised as a country girl and when any animal was killed everything was used except the squeak. 
Frankly I have no problems at all with the hats being continued as traditional bear pelts. Believe me, there are more than enough black bears available for this...and in some parks, where they have been taunted and teased on by tourists, there is no choice but to kill them.
The only people I feel a tad sorry for is the guardsmen left balancing that much weight on their heads, but they signed up for the duty.
Shoot me down in flames, but as far as I'm concerned, PETA is a bloody terrorist group with excessively slick marketing. Those who adore animals, note: They don't want clean cages, they want empty cages. This particular orginization will not rest until animals have been removed from the face of the planet. Don't be duped by their fuzzy outlooks.
