Cold (Raccoon) Dog Jacket by Dan Filtz
… written in 2007. Minor editing by Michael Filtz.
“Sean John” jackets will no longer be available at Macy’s department stores. The fashionable clothing has been identified by a local animal advocacy group to have been made using the fur of an animal known as ‘Raccoon Dog’. “People really wanted these jackets”, said the store manager – Jimmy Dean (not the same Jimmy Dean that one finds in the deli section of the local food store).
“They were selling like hotdogs.”
The jackets had been lined with the fur of Raccoon Dog. Raccoon dogs are not domesticated animals but are raised in parts of Asia and Eastern Siberia and even Japan. They are raised and then killed and skinned for their fur. It is the unfortunate fate of this animal to have fur that closely resembles Raccoon fur.
A statement to the press indicating that the Sean John jackets made with Raccoon Dog fur would be removed from all Macy department stores immediately was made public. The press release further stated that the department store chain had a long-standing merchandizing policy that would never allow the sale of any dog or cat fur incorporated into any clothing item sold in their stores.
Macy acknowledged their plans to provide another line of Sean John jackets that will be made with only 100% Raccoon fur.