http://www.peta.org.uk/media/news-releases/peta-asks-games-workshop-ban-fur-warhammer-characters/
So I decided to write to GW. Below is the email I sent. If anyone else wishes to copy and send it, you are more than welcome to, I shall update the blog once I get a response.
Dear GW,
I have just seen something doing the rounds on fb, and have no idea if this is true, but it seems to be of a level of stupidity that you could not make it up, therefore I am inclined to believe it - apparently PETA have asked you to stop creating models that wear fur.
Now their argument goes that these models are supposed to represent great warriors, and there is no skill in wearing fur. And true, in today's world, there isn't much skill. But last I checked, Leman Russ was not wearing the pelt of a rabbit, but something a tad more challenging. I might also point out that applying 21st century western morality to a dystopian future society that regularly burns witches, let's say there are probably bigger concerns than animal welfare.
Anyway, I wanted to write for fear that if the only voices heard on this issue are the misguided bleatings of PETA members, it could, a long shot, be heard and acted on, however unlikely. Please do not follow their request. It makes little to no difference to me if a model wears fur or not, I just don't want a precedent set. Otherwise the floodgates will open, and the final book in the Horus heresy series will be somewhat anti-climatic "the emperor and Horus engage in a dual because the CND and Greenpeace objected to our original storylines treatment of planet earth. Oh, and sanguinius survives the heresy... Thanks RSPB!"
In summary, please treat the letter from peta with the respect and seriousness it deserves... Actually no that's a little cruel. Just bin the letter, let your staff use Andrex.
Ian Connolly