Cold weather drives everyone to wear warmer clothes. Fashionistas often like fur, or faux fur.

Maybe you got a “killer deal” on a fur-trimmed outfit with a label reading Made in China. It is likely that your fashion bargain is trimmed in dog fur. Even if it says it’s fake.

Fur and faux fur actually are obtained from members of the dog family: racoon dogs (typically stomped, clubbed and skinned alive), wolves, and dogs. Items labeled as fake fur are often made of coyote fur, sometimes domestic cat fur.

What labels carry fur and faux-fur products with such bloody appeal? According to BusinessWeek, the Humane Society had laboratory tests performed on clothes from popular labels:

Three coats — one from Tommy Hilfiger’s Web site ShopTommy.com, one from Nordstrom.com and one from Andrew Marc’s MARC New York line sold on Bluefly.com — contained fur from domesticated dogs. The others had fur from raccoon dogs — a canine species native to Asia — or, in one case, wolves. The single correctly labeled coat was trimmed with coyote fur, but it was advertised as fake.

Most of the fur came from China.

It’s not like you’d know the difference unless puppies came up and tried to nurse on the buttons. Is that really the sort of spectacle you need to tweak your conscience? Then read on.

Join the campaign to help animals to keep their coats.