I saw a documentary / interview on him (will see if I can find a link to it) a while back which touched on the animal welfare issues. I recall him stating that the animals were gassed to death humanely and that they did not suffer. I'm not sure I buy into his argument, yet I kind of feel hypocritical as I do eat organic beef occasionally and of course that had to be killed. I also have a leather bag made by Picard and a leather jacket. Two of my cars have leather seats. Human beings have been killing and eating animals since the beginning of time and also wearing their pelts. I guess Basso is selling sophistication / pseudo-sophistication / glamour. Some people don't see anything wrong with gassing a few stoats / mink to make a nice coat. Other people think it despicable. Each person must decide for him/herself how to live their life and what choices they make. A personal belief, however strongly held by an individual, is not definitive in the wider scheme of things and I get slightly miffed when the animal rights protesters start getting all preachy and militant. In my view they lose all credibility when they start advocating violence to humans that they would so vehemently condemn were it directed towards fluffy little critters. I'm not sure many people think things through. They just go: "Ooh I'm into animal rights, I am. I believe in that, I really BELIEVE in it and I know I'm right." Maybe they are trying to bolster their ego / fulfil some Maslovian need for belonging by jumping on a bandwagon and having a trenchant opinion? I do wonder. I would hardly imagine Basso personally bashes the stoats over the head with a rolling pin, taking pleasure in leaving them writhing in agony before he finally finishes the job. The chances are the creatures are dispatched in a relatively painless / humane fashion, yet it still makes for uncomfortable thought matter, doesn't it? Maybe vegans are superior? That humans have the correct dentation for an omnivorous diet including meat, would seem to justify eating meat, doesn't it? Is it not the case that there is a pecking order with humans at the top of the chain and animals lower down? Why shouldn't we eat them and wear their skins? Yes it was shocking that human beings were gassed to death in WWII (they didn't have any choice in their fate) but is the death of a few stoats really comparable? I would argue that it probably is not. Yes Basso comes like a pantomime villain and many people don't like him. In my view he doesn't have much of a "like factor" about him however it would seem that his products, faux and real, are extremely popular. I think many animal rights activist ought to think long and hard on the provenance of their food, not to mention that of their beloved cats and dogs. Many activists have double standards.