Traveling to class on the Main Quad, walking down Green Street or just waiting for a bus at Transit Plaza, you will be surrounded by them. I’m talking about a coat with a big fur-trimmed collar and a recognizable red patch on the upper arm. These distinct markings can be found on a Canada Goose jacket, and everyone seems to own one these days.

Commonly priced at around $600 per parka, these coats are a pretty huge investment. Sales in the U.S. have been reported to reach $30 million just this year. The company President Dani ReissJT has been quoted saying he views the U.S. as the market with the “greatest potential in the world.” http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2544075/Revealed-Chilling-cruelty-unspeakable-suffering-corporate-denial-Is-TRUE-cost-seasons-Canada-Goose-coat.html

So, we should only expect more purchases of this expensive and aesthetically unique coat around campus; however, some foresee a different future for the brand. The hoods of the jackets are made of real coyote fur. Animal activist groups are dead set on getting their opinions out about what they consider to be the inhumane collection of this fur. These groups criticize those who own the coats because they believe the collection of coyote fur causes excessive pain and suffering to animals.

Canada Goose gets its fur from northern Canadian communities, which have been coyote trapping for hundreds of years. Additionally, the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies has a regulated trapping standard. One of the policies is that steel-jawed leghold traps are prohibited, but other leghold traps, such as padded and offset traps, are permitted. Canada Goose only purchases its coyote furs from certified Canadian trappers, who use the traps that supposedly don’t cause excessive pain to the animal. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2544075/Revealed-Chilling-cruelty-unspeakable-suffering-corporate-denial-Is-TRUE-cost-seasons-Canada-Goose-coat.html#ixzz3zRDHaSyKhttp://cfhs.ca/wild/trapping_standardsJT

Further research suggests these regulations don’t do enough to prevent suffering for the coyotes. Evidently, the traps are up to code, and the number of animals that trappers are allowed to hunt is acceptable, but the amount of time each coyote spends in the trap isn’t regulated. The animal could writhe for hours or days in agony, and chew at its injured leg until it bleeds or worse. This is all technically acceptable under the Canadian legislation.

Now, anyone with a moral compass would take their Canada Goose parka out of their cart and proceed to North Face or Columbia, right?

Perhaps not. There are concrete reasons to use real coyote fur in coats.

Canada Goose creates some of the warmest coats you can buy, and a warm coat is all but necessary for walking around campus when the temperature dips below zero. The fur isn’t a fashion statement as much as it is a functional part of the coat to make it warmer for extreme weather. Coyote fur doesn’t freeze, it doesn’t hold moisture and it retains heat in a way that a synthetic material could not. Replacing this trim would take away from the warmth for which this coat is known.

This evidence doesn’t make the animal abuse OK, but they do provide some insight into why the coats are so desirable.

Certainly, there is a need for reform in the Canadian coyote trapping industry. Though coyotes are being killed quickly in the wild, there should be regulation for how frequently trappers must check their traps to ensure that no animal suffers. Coyotes surely aren’t the only animals who are suffering due to subpar hunting regulations, and animal activist groups are justified in protecting them.

Many people have shared viral Facebook posts criticizing Canada Goose for causing excessive pain to coyotes, but the company is following all the current legal requirements of Canadian coyote trapping. And the same people complaining on Facebook about animal mistreatment likely aren’t giving their leather Rebecca Minkoff bags to charity or eating on a vegetarian diet.

The raising, penning and slaughtering of beef cattle is plenty appalling, but few take measures to stop the caging and hormone-stuffing of cows because those animals aren’t cute enough to star in short films lambasting the meat industry.

The age of the Internet has allowed people to publicly voice their opinions on any topic, and that’s a good thing. Taking a stand against abuse is great; however, keyboard warriors should check themselves before hitting the share button. Criticizing students, or anyone, who chose to buy a coat from Canada Goose can be quite hypocritical if it comes from somebody who isn’t actively taking measures to fight animal abuse elsewhere in life.

I don’t support the excessive harming of coyotes, or any other animal, but I would advise Internet activists surfing Facebook looking for something to complain about to look at the big picture, and their own actions, before criticizing those who wear the coats.

Leah is a freshman in Media.

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