Results tagged “hsus”

Some residents of the Upper West Side are outraged that a new business called Pet Fashion, mostly selling overpriced leashes and whatnot, is selling dogs from a puppy mill. The store, on Columbus Avenue between West 87th and 88th streets, often puts attention-getting pups on display in the front window, but West Side Spirit reports that "these dogs come from puppy mills, and the store is not welcome in the neighborhood."

Animal lovers everywhere can consider themselves victorious. One small step was made for the anti-fur set, as the Humane Society of the US's president announced that, "JCPenney, with more than 1,000 stores in 49 states, has become fur-free, making it the first multiple location, traditional department store to be fur-free in stores and on its website. The company is currently fur-free and has no plans for fur items in the future." Racked is skeptical however, and thinks that the store's motives "can't be completely golden; we're sure the current economy's effects on both shopper's budgets and store bottom lines played major parts in the decision." Earlier this year the HSUS called out some other NYC department stores for mislabeling their fur products. JCPenney will be opening their Manhattan Mall store this summer, and maybe the PETA strippers will be doing their shopping there.

With all the recent uproar about carriage horses, and Fashion Week recently bringing out the fur brigade, we thought it was a good time to talk to an animal lover—one who happens to know exactly what's happening out on the front lines. Patrick Kwan is the New York State Director of the Humane Society of the United States, and recently he schooled us in some current animal rights issues.

Fashion Week is in full effect and The Humane Society of the United States is watching out for our furry friends, as usual. This morning the organization led a press conference with NY State Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal following an investigation that uncovered some big NYC retailers selling unlabeled fur-trimmed garments in violation of state law (which requires that all apparel with real or fake fur be labeled as such, giving shoppers access to product information). All the big names were on their list, including Bloomingdale’s, Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue. Footage of the investigation shows what may happen to confused customers: