Hairy Situation

(Fox News) - An Italian animal rights group is urging Pope Benedict to stop wearing animal fur. The Italian Association for Defense of Animals and the Environment has started an online petition asking the German-born pontiff to get rid of ermine-trimmed garments and switch to synthetics. Ermine is the white winter coat of the stoat, a type of short-tailed weasel. Around 2,000 people have signed the petition.

The group's leader Lorenzo Croce says, "We are asking that he acknowledges that animals, as God's creation, also deserve respect."

But the pope's garments are being defended by Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo who says, "There are human beings who merit more urgent assistance that no one is taking care of. And if we eat animals, we can wear them."