Pamela asks England's queen not to use fur

Ex-Baywatch star Pamela Anderson has sent a petition to England's queen – over the use of bear pelts in Footguards’ hats.

She has collected 200 of her fans’ signatures for the petition, which she posted to Buckingham Palace this morning.

Anderson, who was born in Canada, is calling for a switch from the use of Canadian bears’ pelts to synthetic materials in the headwear.

The 37-year-old, who is in Britain to promote her new novel, sent the petition with a personal note to the Queen, according to Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).

The petition says: “We the undersigned urge the Queen to call on the Ministry of Defence to cease the use of real fur on the uniforms for the regiment of footguards.”

The towering black hats date back almost 200 years to the Battle of Waterloo and are a key part of the uniform of the five Guards regiments – Coldstream, Grenadier, Irish, Scots and Welsh.

They are also a quintessential part of traditional ceremonies like Trooping the Colour and the Changing of the Guard.

Anderson collected signatures at her booksigning in London’s Virgin Megastore yesterday.

A spokeswoman for Peta said: “We have been working with Pam on finding a replacement for the bearskin hats.

“This is an issue she is very passionate about.

“Peta has worked with a top faux fur manufacturer to produce a material that is now being field tested by the Ministry of Defence to replace bear fur, but during this process bears continue to be killed to make these ceremonial hats.”

But British army spokesman Lt Col Peter Dick-Peter said no synthetic alternative had yet been found.

He said: “The army has been working closely with Peta because they say they can produce a satisfactory alternative using artificial fibre.

“So far, Peta has signally failed to do so.

“No bears are killed simply for the caps. The bears are killed to control the population.

“Where we can use an artificial alternative, we do so.”

Fake leopardskin is now worn by drummers in marching bands, while the smaller busbys worn by the King’s Troop are no longer made from beaver fur.

Animal welfare groups claim 40,000 black bears are killed every year – far more than is needed to control numbers.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said it was not yet known whether a petition had been received.