Overstock.com Chief Executive Patrick Byrne has been known to make the fur fly on Wall Street with his ongoing battle against hedge funds. But now he’s going fur-free.
Byrne said the online retailer that sells excess inventory such as furniture, clothing or accessories will no longer carry any products containing fur.
“I draw a lot of criticism for conscious-based decisions,” acknowledged Byrne during a joint conference call with the Humane Society of the United States, referring to his fight since 2005 against naked short selling, the practice of betting against a company and profiting from its decline.
Byrne said the decision to ban fur on Overstock was easy, even though he acknowledged “I’m not a real tree-hugger guy or even an animal-hugger kind of guy.”
“You don’t have to think about it very much before you realize … you’re completely objectifying an animal when you say I’m going to wear it as a decorative object. That’s over the line for anyone who gives it any thought, I would think.”
Overstock joins 99 other retailers and designers who have pledged to stay fur-free, according to the Humane Society. A list of participating retailers and designers is here.
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6 comments so far
Wow… it’s official. Overstock and Patty Byrne have more respect for animals than they do for humans. They seem to be acknowledging that it’s wrong to mistreat animals, yet plan to move their whole office into a non air conditioned warehouse in West Salt Lake. Temperatures there are routinely over 100 degrees in the summer and routinely below 20 in the winter.
Overstock.com, the new corporate form of slave labor. With salaries that are routinely 50% below industry standard, over-crowded working conditions, and ongoing harassment of workers by management, they are truly a class act.
Applaud their stance on fur, but boycott them for their stance on human exploitation.
- Posted by indaknowThat’s great news! So many fur-bearing animals won’t be tortured any longer. I’ve only placed an order with Overstock once, but I’ll have to look into them again.
- Posted by WilliamWay to go, Overstock! I applaud their efforts as an upstanding, ethical, compassionate retailer and true leader of the industry. They’ve blazed the way for others to follow suit while saving countless animal from a horrendous and unnecessary death.
- Posted by KDarn. Any recommendations on alternative locations for purchasing cheap ass fur?
- Posted by TGOOOmDude, does anyone know where i can get some fur online. It looks like Overstock just stopped selling it.
- Posted by T-MoneyChief Executive Patrick Byrne is a hypocrit. Wearing dead animals objectifys them unless they are made into pants, jackets, skirts, shoes and belts?
If you want to stop carrying fur. Great, just do not pontificate that its for ethical reasons.
- Posted by Lee