In a new PETA video shared exclusively with Billboard, Bryan Adams has called out the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) for their use of bearskin to make the headpieces worn by their Ceremonial Guards.
Atop PETA's graphic investigative footage, the singer-songwriter narrates how the bears suffer long, drawn-out deaths after being baited and shot by recreational hunters. While these hunters often keep parts of the bears' bodies as trophies, according to PETA, they also sell the skins to buyers who make the CAF's ceremonial headgear.
"Shot bears don't always die right away. Desperate and in pain, some bears flee the hunters and endure a slow, painful death from infection or blood loss," Adams said in the video. "Nursing mothers are sometimes shot, leaving behind cubs who starve, unable to survive on their own."
"The Canadian government is endorsing this cruelty by using real bear fur on its military caps, even though military-grade faux bear fur now exists," he continued, referring to PETA UK and luxury faux furrier ECOPEL's development of state-of-the-art faux fur. "Tell the Canadian government to end the cruelty and go fur-free."
Andrée-Anne Poulin, a spokesperson for the Department of National Defence (DND), told Billboard that the CAF have already switched to using synthetic fur "where possible."
"It's important to note that most of the bearskin hats worn by the Ceremonial Guard are more than 20 years old and are well-maintained from the thorough care they have received over the decades," Poulin's statement reads. "DND/CAF refurbish and extend the life of the existing hats, taking every effort to only re-use bearskins that were previously acquired."
It's likewise important to note that Adams once blamed the spread of COVID-19 on "bat eating, wet market animal selling, virus making greedy bastards." He did apologize after the fact, writing, "No excuse, I just wanted to have a rant about the horrible animal cruelty in these wet-markets being the possible source of the virus, and promote veganism."
