PETA doesn't want you to wear fur - unless it comes from them

I received an e-mail string from PETA in which the organization had reached out to France's first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.

PETA claimed it had seen photos of the former supermodel wearing real fur. Based on her concern for wildlife and the environment, the animal-rights organization asked her to renounce fur as fashion and to donate her coats to PETA to give to the homeless as the likes of Mariah Carey, Kim Cattrall and Mary Tyler Moore have done.

The PETA correspondence said it receives thousands of fur coats from people whose feelings about wearing real fur have changed. Because the animals can't be brought back, PETA sends the coats to homeless shelters and refugee camps, uses them in educational displays and gives them to wildlife rehabilitators to use as bedding for orphaned animals.

Run that by me again: Homeless people and people in refugee camps are walking around wearing celebrities' real fur coats?

The notion is perplexing.

It would seem that if it's reprehensible to wear animal fur, it would be reprehensible to wear it no matter what your social standing.

And what about safety? If a person can get jacked over a pair of sneakers, jewelry, a wallet or a purse, it's plausible that a fur coat would make a refugee a sitting duck.

Dan Mathews, vice president of Norfolk-based PETA, said in an e-mail that homeless people are the only ones with an excuse to wear fur. Most recently, the coats have been given to the homeless in New York and Washington, D.C., and to Nigerian refugees, he said.

"People donating their coats to PETA get a tax credit for the value of the coat, so it's a win-win deal.

"We aren't at all worried that the homeless people will be attacked for wearing fur because the coats have a subtle dark band shaved into the arm to both take away their resale value and to show they are part of the coat donation program," Mathews added.

The shark on the street doesn't care about a coat's being part of a donation program. And what if the person in need gets back on track and wants to keep the coat?

I've inadvertently bought clothes for my children and for myself that, upon further inspection, I deemed to be against what's left of my values.

I hated to have to throw away this T-shirt I'd just bought for Buddy last month. It had all the colors in it that would work well with another pair of athletic pants I'd bought him. Plus, I got it on sale! But I digress.

It wasn't until I got ready to iron the shirt that I noticed obscure images of crossbones and flying skeletons - an homage to spiritism. Why push the demons on another person's kid?

Should a former hooker who's trying to land on her feet donate her crotchless pants to a young stripper?

If I realize the mini-skirts I wore in high school were no more than handkerchiefs with waistbands, would I be in my right mind if I gave them to displaced people when I have a closet full of suitable attire?

If a person accepts the health consequences of smoking and gives it up, should he give the cigarettes to the next smoker?

PETA's giving the fur coats to humans prompts the same conscience check.

The parts of the program that use the coats for education and as bedding for orphaned animals seem most practical. Could the donated fur be made into coats for sick animals? There is at least one dog in my neighborhood that looks as if it needs a whole-body toupee.

Back to Bruni-Sarkozy. She replied that she does not wear, buy or own animal fur and that any recent photos of her in fur don't depict real fur. Good for her. And I'd bet that she could donate dozens of nonanimal coats, too, as most of us could.

How can you tell someone her fur coat is morally wrong and then give it to someone else, especially when nonanimal clothes come a dime a dozen?

And can you imagine what you'd look like - if you were to become homeless - standing on the street with a "Will Work for Food" sign but you're wearing Mimi's rigged fur coat?

I'd rather go naked. I'd look just as crazy.

Jamesetta M. Walker, (757) 446-2211, jamesetta.walker@pilotonline.com