Method/Source: Using research provided by the Gallup Poll focusing on moral issues, in which the question asks, “Regardless of whether or not you think it should be legal, please tell me whether you personally believe that in general it is morally acceptable or morally wrong. How about… buying and wearing clothing made of animal fur?” The score is 100% less the current proportion of U.S. adults that agree that it is morally acceptable to buy/wear animal fur. The goal for this indicator is 100% of adults disagreeing that buying and wearing fur is morally acceptable.
Adults who think that buying and wearing fur is “morally acceptable”
Adults that think that buying and wearing fur is “morally acceptable” (by year)
Discussion: Buying and wearing animal fur is unnecessary and superfluous outside of the interests of fashion and conspicuous consumption. Due to the cruelty and gratuitous deaths involved in producing fur and its sole function as a luxury item, the goal is for no U.S. adults to find the buying and wearing of fur to be morally acceptable. However, according to the Gallup Poll, most U.S. adults do not feel this way.
In 2010, 60% of U.S. adults surveyed said that buying and wearing fur was morally acceptable. Of the remaining 40%, almost all classified it as morally unacceptable; a 5% minority said it was unsure, citing various reasons. This shows that while most believe fur is morally acceptable, it is a polarizing issue. Although campaigns opposed to fur have been a focus of animal protection efforts since the 1980s, the last five years have witnessed little change in attitudes toward fur, with only a 2% reduction in those who believe wearing fur is morally acceptable since 2006.
Score: 40/100
Source: Gallup Poll
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