Group says retailers advertise real fur as fake

ATLANTA (Reuters) - An animal rights group said on Thursday that some retailers were selling coats made with real animal fur that were advertised as having fake fur.

The Humane Society of the United States said a follow-up to its investigation last year found that retailers including Bloomingdale's and Saks Fifth Avenue were selling jackets that had been mislabeled as "faux fur" but were trimmed with actual animal fur.

The Humane Society said in a statement that it determined the fur was real through laboratory tests and cutting open the lining of the fur trim on products it had purchased.

"This is a real problem for consumers who want to purchase animal-friendly, stylish clothes," said Kristin Leppert, director of the Humane Society's fur-free campaign.

Anne Keating, a spokeswoman for Macy's Inc, parent of the Bloomingdale's chain, said a product Bloomingdale's sells under the Aqua brand had been mislabeled on the company's Web site as having "faux fur." She said the Bloomingdale's Web site reference was being corrected to indicate that the coat contained rabbit fur.

The product "is labeled correctly in the store and always has been," Keating said.

Saks Inc spokeswoman Julia Bentley said in an e-mail that the operator of Saks Fifth Avenue stores had "previously received written confirmation" from the manufacturer that a coat it sells included fake fur. The Humane Society's statement said the coat has a rabbit fur lining.

The Saks spokeswoman added that Saks had removed the item listing from its Web site. The manufacturer, Burberry Group plc, could not be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Karen Jacobs; Editing by Toni Reinhold)