Kohl's Caught Selling Real Fur Labeled As Faux Fur
JERICHO, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) – It looked like real fur and felt like real fur, but the label said "faux fur." Now, an animal rights group says Kohl's customers were duped.
The R&O men's hooded parka sold on the store's website was trimmed with fake fur, according to its label. But The Humane Society put the trim to the test in a lab and found otherwise.
"Kohl's, the well-known retailer, was selling real raccoon dog fur as faux fur," Outreach Manager of the Humane Society of the United States, PJ Smith, told CBS 2's Carolyn Gusoff.
Raccoon dog is in the same family as domestic dogs, foxes and wolves and The Humane Society says it is often misrepresented as fake fur.
Shoppers CBS 2 spoke with were shocked.
"Oh, that just gave me the chills. Those poor animals," one customer said.
"I think I'm buying fabrics and it's animal. It's a little shady," another said.
Kohl's has apologized to customers saying it was unaware the trim was real fur.
"Kohl's standard vendor terms require that all merchandise must be free of any real animal fur unless expressly authorized in writing…no such authorization was given here," the store said in a statement.
But as Gusoff reported, this wasn't the first time.
"Last December, they were found to be selling handbags that were trimmed with rabbit fur, and they were also selling those as faux fur," Smith said.
Shoppers say it's a matter of truth in labeling.
"Just be honest. If people want to buy it knowing it's real, so be it," one shopper said.
"If it's real fur, want it to be real fur. If it's fake fur, I want it to be fake fur. False advertising? That's bad," another added.
Kohl's says fewer than 100 of the parkas were purchased on their website before the item was pulled and will honor all returns, no questions asked.
The Humane Society says if the retail giant is truly sorry, they'd admit they can be duped again and go fur-free.
The Humane Society of the United States also claims in found real animal fur sold as fake fur at Century 21 and Neiman Marcus.
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