Vegetarian Star

You wouldn’t dare purchase a fur coat or leather bomber yourself, but what if your sister-in-law forgets you always pass on the turkey during Thanksgiving and Christmas get togethers and wraps a full length mink in a gift box almost as expensive as the coat?

Without a receipt there’s no hope of a refund, but Dear Abby has some advice for the vegetarian who receives an animal un-friendly gift.

“I have been a vegetarian and anti-fur advocate for many years, and most of my friends and family know it,” writes one reader. “I feel strongly that wearing fur and leather is cruel and unnecessary, but I don’t lecture anyone who doesn’t ask my opinion.”

“What would be the proper response when someone gives me an item with real animal fur or genuine leather? It has happened before, and while I appreciate that someone has bought me a gift, I’m horrified and heartbroken seeing what’s inside the box when I open it, and disappointed knowing that the person has contributed to the unkind and atrocious fur industry. I find it difficult to bring myself to say “thank you” for something I find so morally abhorrent.”

While Vegetarian Star agrees with Dear Abby when she advises “Veggie In New York” to, “give the gift a respectful, private burial or regift it to a carnivore,” it doesn’t think it’s not within good manners to use the opportunity to educate the relative on the cruelties of the animal skin industry.

Doing so may prevent another holiday or birthday that yields the same “surprise.”

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