Boots has withdrawn ‘faux fur’ bobby pins over fears they are made from real rabbit or cat fur.
The £3.99 Scunci brand pins are described as ‘fur style’ when they’re sold in the shop – but a vegan campaigner who looked closely at the pins claims they are actually real.
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After Ruby Miranda posted images of the pins online, people on social media bombarded Boots with complaints.
Boots has now withdrawn the pins from all stores and online while it investigates the claims.
Ruby, from Ashford in Kent, saw a picture of the pins that was taken in a Boots in Widnes, Cheshire, last week after it was posted in a vegan Facebook group.
The 20-year-old noticed that the fur tapers at the ends, indicating that it’s real. Faux fur apparently has ‘blunt’ ends.
Real animal fur can be sold and produced cheaply – nowadays often more cheaply than faux fur – using rabbits, cats, mink and other small animals in fur farms abroad.
Ruby said: ‘I am able to spot the difference between real fur and faux fur instantaneously, it’s become quite a habit actually.
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‘I came across this image in a vegan group and I knew straight away that this was real fur. I can tell by the way the fur tapers at the end. Faux fur does not do that – faux fur has blunt ends.’
A Boots spokeswoman said: ‘At Boots UK we have clear animal welfare standards that we take very seriously. We confidently stocked this product from the supplier on the understanding that these are faux fur.
‘We take any customer concern seriously and, having received this enquiry, as a precautionary measure only, we have temporarily removed the product from sale whilst the supplier undertakes a thorough investigation.’
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In December 2016, an investigation found that high street shops were selling genuine animal fur passed off as faux.
According to findings from ITV’s Good Morning Britain, fur trims and pom poms on hats, coats and bags labelled ‘100% polyester faux fur’ was actually real fur from raccoons and Angora rabbits.
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