The ethics of musk
And now, for the really big issue: ethics. The second reason why many small-batch, artisanal perfumers will
not create perfumes with real musk in them is the fear that their brand will be associated with animal cruelty.
It is fair to say that some perfumers themselves believe the use of deer musk to be cruel and unethical. But for most perfumers or attar makers interested in working with deer musk, the real ethical dilemma is tied up in the fear that their customers will accuse them of supporting animal cruelty or the decimation of an endangered species.
Most people in the West consider deer musk to be ethically problematic if not downright wrong. Part of this is due to the issues over legality, with most people assuming that
all deer musk is illegal and harvested from an animal close to extinction, and therefore possessed of the same criminal status as ivory. And, to a certain extent, ethics are a deeply personal and emotional issue, so the
perception of ethical wrongdoing is probably always going to trump the facts of the case.
To be clear, deer hunting
is cruel and unethical when the animals are killed illegally – poachers are unconcerned about animal suffering and will often leave the deer to die a horrible death in their crude steel traps. They care only about the musk sac, and will discard the rest of the body. A musk sac obtained in this manner carries exactly the same stigma of illegality, waste, and animal cruelty that is attached to elephant ivory.
By corollary, musk farming and legal hunting through license programs yield musk that is more sustainable from an ethical standpoint.
In the case of Siberia, the species of deer being hunted is not a species threatened with extinction, and the hunting lottery system means that only a finite number of musk deer are killed in the region each year. The most valuable by-product of the Siberian musk deer is indeed its musk sac, but not a single part of the deer is wasted: the meat is eaten, the hide is made into clothing and leather, and the hooves used to make glue.
During a legal, licensed hunt, the kill is as humane as possible (shooting instead of trapping) and the proceeds help support local families who live off the seasonal hunt. Hunting has always played an important role in the local economies of wherever a valuable resource lies, be it salmon, deer, oud, or sandalwood.
Many people just don't like the idea of hunting animals in the wild. Fair enough. A big concern over hunting animals in the wild boils down to the issue of motive – are we hunting for sport or because the animal is useful to us? Musk deer hunting is not like fox hunting, where the animal is killed for sport. The hunting has a purpose, and the animal being hunted (the deer) is useful to humans, giving up its meat, hooves, skin, and musk pod.
Maybe it's just that when we talk about deer musk, the kill is instantly more visual to us in our head, more vivid, than the slaughter of, say, chickens and cows. Statistically speaking, a far greater number of domestic animals such as cows, chickens, and pigs are slaughtered to give us meat and leather. It's just that this mass killing of animals has been organized so that it takes place far away from the public eye, behind the walls of abattoirs and factories far away from residential areas.
Perhaps the only real way forward through the murky matter of musk as consumers is to be better informed about where it comes from and to buy judiciously. If you are in the position to buy an attar or tincture or perfume with deer musk in it, ask the right questions of the vendor: from what species of musk deer does this come from? Was it legally hunted or farmed? A tall order for a consumer? Yes, sure. But the market only ever changes if enough consumers start asking informed questions and voting with their feet.
On a larger scale, the way forward is to throw more support behind legal hunting programs and musk deer farming. In China, although it is unknown whether or not the animals suffer during the bi-annual harvesting of their musk paste, it is positive news that the deer does not lose his life and that an effort is being made to produce deer musk in a legal, ethical manner. Output may still be a drop in the ocean of China's immense demand for musk, but still, at the very least, China is following one of the key recommendations in the CITES convention, which is to encourage the development “
of safe and effective techniques for collecting musk from live musk deer.”
Ethics are also closely tied to species endangerment. It is illegal hunting and poaching that drives the numbers of endangered deer species down to extinction levels, not controlled hunting, and not the Chinese musk farms. Illegally obtained musk grains cause suffering and cruelty to the animal, do not benefit local economies, waste the by-products of deer meat, skin, and hooves, and taint the final output – the musk – with the stench of criminality.
The huge amount of illegal deer musk that ends up on the market is in itself is evidence that laws banning musk deer hunting don't work, and in fact, suggests that increased investment in musk farming and controlled hunting licenses might be a more appropriate way forward in terms of conservation and getting deer numbers back up.
