• 8 of the funniest, furriest dogs from Westminster

    All kinds of fur was on display in New York at the Westminster Kennel Club Show. Here are some of the furriest, four-legged competitors showing off their fluffy features. 

    Mike Segar / Reuters

    Swagger, an Old English Sheepdog, poses for photographers after winning the Herding Group during competition at the 137th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Feb. 11.

    John Moore / Getty Images

    Handler Stacy Dohmeier carries Tucker, an A.S.C.O.B Cocker Spaniel, Feb. 12, at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

    John Moore / Getty Images

    A terrier prepares to compete at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Feb.12.

    Mike Segar / Reuters

    A Pomeranian is carried by its handler to be judged during competition in the Toy Group at the 137th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Feb. 11.

    Mike Segar / Reuters

    A Standard Poodle is judged during competition in the Non-Sporting Group at the 137th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Feb.11.

    Stan Honda / AFP - Getty Images

    Paisley, a Wheaten Terrier, sits on a grooming table at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Feb. 12.

    Mike Segar / Reuters

    A Bearded Collie runs during competition in the Herding Group at the 137th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Feb.11.

    Stan Honda / AFP - Getty Images

    Barry, a Komondorok, at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Feb. 12.

    Related:

    As officials at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show kept a keen eye out for any cosmetically enhanced dogs, Banana Joe became the first affenpinscher to win Best in Show. NBC's Katy Tur reports and Banana Joe's handler, Ernesto Lara, introduces him to the TODAY anchors.

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  • Fur traders take fox pelts to market in Switzerland

    Arno Balzarini / EPA

    Huntsman shouldering fox furs are on their way to the traditional fur market in Thusis, Swiss canton of Grisons, March 24.

    According to the Swiss Broadcasting corporation, fox hunting is legal in Switzerland during the winter months. Prices for pelts were higher decades ago, but animal rights protests against fur decreased demand significantly in the 1980s, which lowered prices. Recently, demand appears to be rebounding, let by Eastern European and Chinese markets.

    A look at the Belarus fur industry

  • A view of the Belarus fur industry

    By Meredith Birkett

    I like stories that help me know the origin of our consumer products. The resources needed to make them, the people who create them, and the distance they travel to market are all largely hidden from our view in today's global market place.

    This story on the breeding -- and subsequent killing -- of fox and mink for the fur industry helps me know where things come from. But the reality of the process is hard to look at. So proceed to view this post at your own risk, as the images are graphic.

    Viktor Drachev / AFP - Getty Images

    An employee carries a blue fox at a pelt farm near the village of Babino, some 180 kms outside Minsk, Belarus, on Nov. 11. The farm produces some 2,400 fox and 110,000 mink pelts annually.

    Viktor Drachev / AFP - Getty Images

    Employess lay out mink pelts at a pelt farm.

    Viktor Drachev / AFP - Getty Images

    Employees work with mink pelts.

    Viktor Drachev / AFP - Getty Images

    Employees work with mink pelts at a pelt farm near the village of Babino.

    Viktor Drachev / AFP - Getty Images

    Employess lay out mink pelts at a pelt farm.

     

  • Nikolas Giakoumidis / AP

    A mink runs past dead animals on a road in Hiliodendro, near the northern Greek city of Kastoria, on Monday, Aug. 30. 2010. More than 50,000 mink were set loose in the area on Friday and Saturday, after raids by suspected animal rights activists on two fur farms. Greece's The National Fur Breeders' Association said most of the released animals are likely to die, adding that the cost to the farm owners could pass 1 million Euros ($1.27 million) despite an effort to recover the animals.

    Free mink

    I wonder what the average difference in quality of life is for the mink in this situation.