Dear Mr Bailey, dear Ms Ahrendts,
On behalf of the international animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS and over 500,000 of our supporters, we would like to bring your attention to recent communications with your company regarding the very important and sensitive issue of the use of fur within your product ranges.
During previous communications with your company we have asked for a meeting with Burberry to discuss the issue, however, our offer to meet in person was declined. We have received information about Burberry’s corporate responsibility programme which includes some points about the purchase and origin of fur used.
On Tuesday 11th February, 2014, we contacted your Corporate Social Responsibility department with clear evidence – footage documenting fur farms in Finland – which verifies that the claims made by your company do not concur with encountered realities. Many of these fur farms were suppliers to Saga Furs, of which the auction house Burberry are being supplied some of it’s fur from. The conditions in which these animals are kept in are unacceptable and do not adhere to your policies. Some of the footage provided by FOUR PAWS has been viewed by your colleagues.
Within a week, more than 25,000 people from all over the world reacted to our Burberry exposure calling on your company to stop using fur. The footage was also distributed and discussed in detail with key press outlets such as Agence France Press (AFP) and the Daily Mirror newspaper, just to name a few.
We trust that your company will take this issue seriously. We were disappointed to receive an official response by the Ethical Trading Manager duplicating standard points and phrases while failing to answer any of our specific questions about the footage which shows the appalling living conditions of fur animals in Finland and the keeping conditions on fox farms of your supplier. Transparency for consumers plays a vital role for any company, therefore we expect to receive answers to our specific questions.
We assume that Burberry honours its own policies by taking on board all the clear facts and evidence presented by FOUR PAWS, and by doing so concludes to communicate those transparently. FOUR PAWS remains open to discussion and communication on this important matter and we endeavour to have a meeting to discuss the evidence in more detail before we continue our efforts to expose further information to the public and media.
Yours sincerely,
Thomas Pietsch
