Should black bears be slaughtered to make the ornamental headpieces worn by the Queen’s Guard?

PETA is urging British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ban the use of actual bear fur by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The fur is utilized for the Queen’s Guard’s ornamental headpieces, while the ceremonial caps are made of beautiful imitation fur instead.

The hats are fashioned from black bear fur harvested in Canada.

There are no limitations on shooting mother bears with nursing cubs in several areas, resulting in the extinction of entire families.

The cubs are orphaned and left to fend for themselves.

The Ministry of Defense claims that these bears are killed as part of a permitted cull, yet PETA has discovered no evidence of any official black bear culling programs in any Canadian province.

Recreational hunters are granted tags to kill the bears, and some even use bows and arrows to do so.

The bears are often shot but not killed immediately. As many as one bear in seven will escape wounded and die slowly from blood loss or starvation.

The U.K. government is creating a demand for the bears’ fur and fueling the slaughter by continuing to make the ornamental hats with that fur.

Taxpayers’ Money Is Spent on Slaughtering Bears

As discussed by PETA U.K., one of the most sophisticated military operations in the world would have you believe there is no alternative to slaughtering bears to make ceremonial caps. But that’s not the case! PETA U.K. and luxury faux furrier ECOPEL have created the world’s first faux bear fur that is virtually indistinguishable from the real thing. ECOPEL has even offered to supply the MoD with unlimited, free faux bear fur until 2030.

Each fur hat costs an astounding $1,766.90. More than a million dollars’ worth of U.K. taxpayers’ money has been spent on these cruelly produced caps in the past seven years, even though they serve no military purpose.

More than 95% of the U.K. public refuses to wear fur, but Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace is ignoring the will of the people by spending money on these unwanted ceremonial caps.

Take Action Now

Instead of financially supporting the shameful slaughter of black bears for the Queen’s Guard’s ceremonial hats, the U.K. should be setting a compassionate example by switching to high-tech, luxurious faux fur.

Please help make sure the prime minister knows that the secretary of state for defence is dragging his feet and wasting money and bears’ lives. Based on where you live, please take the quick steps below to help us make some noise for bears and spread the message!

For U.K. residents: Please sign the government petition to help bears. PETA U.K. needs 100,000 people to sign it in order to ensure that this issue is debated in Parliament.

Those outside the U.K. can follow these steps:

Step 1: Take to social media.

Please tweet at the prime minister and the MoD and comment on the MoD’s Instagram and Facebook.

This article was first published by PETA on 3 March 2022. 

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