Right now, bears are being baited and gunned down in Canada so that their fur can be used to adorn the Queen’s Guard’s caps – ceremonial headgear which serves no military purpose.
It takes the skin of one bear to make a single cap. Some of the bears are mothers, whose cubs are left to starve or be killed by predators, meaning one cap can actually represent the slaughter of an entire family.
All this suffering and death is made more preposterous by the fact that the bearskin caps could easily be replaced with a high-performing, humane faux fur. And since the world’s top faux furrier is offering the fabric to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for free, making the switch would save not only bears’ lives but also taxpayers’ money.
When pressed about the issue, the government has issued a pathetic and misleading response – one that must be challenged. We now have an opportunity to bring this issue to Parliament. When we reach 100,000 signatures, we’ll force a parliamentary debate, restoring power to the UK public to demand a modern, humane alternative to the Queen’s Guard’s caps.