Buyer Beware: It’s The Label That’s Fake, Not The Fur! Test Reveals Tesco-owned Dobbies Is In Violation Of No-fur Policy

PETA Calls On Chief Exec to Conduct Mandatory Inspections of 'Faux' Fur Products Across All Tesco Subsidiaries

London – PETA supporter Emma de Loseby got more than she bargained for when she spotted a supposedly "faux fur"–trimmed hat in the gift shop at her local Dobbies Garden Centres – which is owned by Tesco, a company that has marketed itself to kind consumers as having a long-standing fur-free policy. After informing staff and Dobbies in writing that she believed the fur to be real – only to be fobbed off and told that she was wrong – de Loseby procured the hat and sent it to PETA, which sent it for microscopic examination and DNA testing. The group confirmed that the fur was indeed real. After hearing from PETA, Tesco removed all the remaining hats from Dobbies' shelves. Today, PETA also rushed a letter to Tesco Chief Executive Dave Lewis urging him to order a mandatory inspection of all "faux" fur products across all Tesco subsidiaries.

"While both PETA and the public wish to support companies like Tesco, which claim to have 'strict' no-fur policies, such claims only carry weight if they're actually enforced", says PETA Director Mimi Bekhechi. "This disturbing case has shown that not only is Tesco's current system of 'random sampling checks' for own-brand products – and not carrying out any tests themselves for other products - is woefully lacking but also that the failure to act on customer complaints means that these hats were sold to unsuspecting consumers for several months. As opinion polls show that 95 per cent of the public would never dream of wearing real fur, PETA is calling on Tesco to order a companywide inspection and act immediately to remove any real fur items from circulation."

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that "animals are not ours to wear" – wants consumers to know that rabbits and other animals on fur farms spend their entire lives in cramped, filthy cages before they're killed by poisoning, gassing, anal electrocution or having their necks broken. Animals trapped for fur endure excruciating pain before their chests are stomped on or their necks are broken by trappers. In China – where Tesco's fur hat was sourced – animals, including cats and dogs, are sometimes skinned alive.

PETA supporter Emma de Loseby, who discovered the fur hat, is available for interviews and photos. PETA's letter to Tesco Chief Executive Dave Lewis is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.