Kate Upton Slammed By Animal Advocates Over Canada Goose Partnership

Some accused the model of hypocrisy for promoting polar bear conservation while working with a company that uses real fur for its coats.
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Kate Upton took to social media on Wednesday to share that she was celebrating World Kindness Day. But the beautiful photo of her and her husband, Justin Verlander, didn’t receive such a welcome response as people realized it was in partnership with Canada Goose.

The model and actress preached about being kind to the world while announcing that she had been working with the outerwear company and Polar Bears International to visit the PBI House to learn about polar bear conservation. Still, many in the comments took issue with the fact that Upton praised Canada Goose — a company that uses real fur, down and wool for its coats — for its “efforts to make this world a better place.”

“Supporting a cause for animal welfare while supporting a brand made of mostly animals,” one person commented, while another said, “This company literally kills animals for fashion,” referring to Canada Goose.

Someone even asked how Upton could be “so blind” to the irony of the post.

“Trapping coyotes for their fur in horrific leg traps absolutely despicable!” added another.

Canada Goose didn’t immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment and has yet to publicly address the specific allegations related to Upton’s post. However, the Canada Goose website states, “We do not condone any willful mistreatment, neglect, or acts that maliciously cause animals undue suffering.”

A section of the website is dedicated to the explanation of the company’s transparency standards and sourcing of the down, fur and wool used to make the products. Still, Newsweek explains that not all of Canada Goose’s sourcing is as ethically dubious it seems. For one, the coyote traps used to source the brand’s coat fur are in accordance with Canada’s Agreement of International Humane Trapping Standards (AIHTS), although some of those traps are banned in dozens of other countries. According to the piece, the laws for obtaining this fur within the United States even vary from state to state.

“The reality is the practices used to create Canada Goose jackets aren’t really much different than those used in the farming industry,” Newsweek’s feature concludes. “It comes down to how high your tolerance is for animal suffering.”

Still, some fans of Upton praised her and Verlander for their work with PBI, although the entirety of the brand partnership seemed ironic.

“I can applaud any efforts to save the planet,” the commenter wrote. “Every step counts but as a species, we have to start being more selective of the companies we support if we truly want to control climate change and save this planet.”

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