invade runways with signs and paint, or physically mail privately viewed letters, today's activist can raise a commotion without leaving the house. The rise of social media has provided the general public with a direct line of communication with companies and a platform for opinions and protests, making it harder for brands to ignore targeted activism. “Brands are under huge pressure to respond to social media and avoid any controversy.” Says Mark Oaten, chief executive of the IFF. The anti-fur messaging is being amplified by social media and a millennial customer base that is paying closer attention to the values represented by the products they buy. The feeling of outrage against animal suffering is particularly intense when cats and dogs are involved since these are the most popular pets in Western countries. Therefore, consumers demand to be assured about the production of furs to avoid the risk of inadvertently buying products made with fur from these animals. To counteract the growing concern of consumers, European Union officially banned the import and export from all Member States of dog and cat furs, and all products containing fur from these species, with Regulation 1523/2007, applying since 31 December 2008. A combined method for species identification in furs, based on a combined morphological and molecular approach, has been proposed to discriminate dog and cat furs from allowed fur-bearing species, as this is a necessary step to comply with the ban. Fur trade The fur trade is the worldwide buying and selling of fur for clothing and other purposes. The fur trade was one of the driving forces of exploration of North America and the Russian Far East. The fur trade has long-lasting effects, specifically on the Natives in North America and the populations of fur bearing animals worldwide. When fur farming was first developed in North America it was in response to the dwindling numbers of wild furbearing animals caused by unregulated hunting and trapping. Currently the most common animals in the global fur trade are farmed animals; mink are the most traded fur worldwide, followed by arctic fox (termed 'bluefox' by the industry), red fox, finnraccoon and rabbit. Following the public awareness of animal welfare abuses in the fur industry, the European Union initiated the WelFur system. WelFur is the agreed upon certification program in the E.U. that prioritizes animal welfare in European fur farms, these farms are then given a QR