Fur

For alternative meanings, see Fur (disambiguation).

A dog's fur usually consists of longer, stiffer, guard hairs—which can be straight, wiry, or wavy, and of various lengths— that hide a soft, short-haired undercoat.

The term fur refers to the body hair of non-human mammals also known as the pelage (like the term plumage in birds). Fur comes from the coats of animals; the animal's coat may consist of short ground hair, long guard hair, and, in some cases, medium awn hair. Not all mammals have fur; animals without fur may be referred to as "naked", as in The Naked Ape and naked mole rat.

Fur usually consists of two main layers:

• Ground hair or underfur — the bottom layer consisting of wool hairs when tend to be shorter, flattened, curly and denser than the top layer.
• Guard hair — the top layer consisting of longer straight shafts of hair that stick out through the underfur. This is usually what's visible in most mammals and contains most of the pigmentation.

Considerable controversy exists over the use of animal fur to make clothing. For more information, see fur farming.

Fur clothing

Fur once served as an important source of clothing for humans, especially in cold climates. Modern cultures continue to wear fur and fur trim as dictated by fashion trends and it is still considered by some a luxury item, despite the best efforts of the animal protest industry who's campaigns peaked in the early eighties with the participation of numerous celebrities, many of whom have since been seen in fur clothing.

Animal furs used in garments and trim may be dyed bright colors or to mimic exotic animal patterns, or shorn down to imitate the feel of a soft velvet fabric. The term "a fur" is often used to refer to a fur coat, wrap, or shawl.

Common animal sources for fur clothing and fur trimmed accessories include:

• fox
• rabbit
• mink
• beaver
• ermine
• otter
• sable
• seal*Import and sale of seal products is currently banned in the US.
• cat* Import, export and sales banned in the US in 2000 (Dog and Cat Protection Act of 2000 [1])
• dog*Import, export and sales banned in the US in 2000 (Dog and Cat Protection Act of 2000 [2])
• coyote
• chinchilla

The manufacturing of fur clothing involves obtaining animal pelts where the hair is left on the animal's processed skin. In contrast, leather made from sheepskin or other animal hides involves removing the fur from the skin and using only the skin. The use of wool involves shearing the animal's hair from the living animal, so that the wool can be regrown. Fake fur or "faux fur" designates any synthetic material that mimics the appearance and feel of real fur, without the use of animal products.

The chemical treatment of fur to increase its felting quality is known as carroting, as the process tends to turn the tips of the fur a yellowish-red "carrot like" colour.

Today, the animal protest industry continues to expend considerable energy and resources to create controvery over the methods of fur farming and trapping used to produce fur clothing but record prices for fur pelts and the ubiquity of fur clothing and trim in fashion media demonstrates that fur clothing is here to stay.

Fur fetishes

The soft, warm texture of fur appeals to many people; for some, the attraction becomes a fur fetishism, a fetishistic attraction to people wearing fur, or in certain cases, to the fur garments themselves.