“When I saw her cowering at the back of the cage, I felt really sorry for her and couldn’t possibly imagine wearing her,” said Gaintseva, according to the New York Post. “She really was a beautiful little fox looking up at me with her gorgeous big eyes.”

Wait, the story gets better. Gaintseva couldn’t just leave that fox to become someone else’s coat. She made plans to buy her and set her free.

“I’d much rather buy her and release her than have her killed and wear her,” Gaintseva said. “Not now that I had seen her alive.”

The Fox (Who) Went Home to Stay

Although Gaintseva intended to buy and free the black fox, she learned that (she) had been taken from (her) mother at a very early age. The fox had lived (her) whole life at the farm and never learned to survive in the wild. Releasing her into the Russian wilderness would be another kind of death sentence.

Gaintseva decided to do the only thing she could to ensure the fox’s survival — she took (her) home with her.

Now named Kiryusha, the fox lives with the Gaintsevas. See Natalia and Kiryusha together by clicking here. Kiryusha appears to be thriving, living warm, well fed and happy with the woman who was kind enough to see her as a fellow sentient being rather than something pretty to wear.

Fur Farms Mean a Short, Sad Life and a Painful Death

There’s nothing good to say about an animal’s life on a fur farm. They live crammed together in small cages and pens. They live their lives in sheds, never going outside or running free. They live and eat in the same tiny space in which they urinate and defecate.

After that sad life, they die hard deaths. To avoid damaging the fur, workers frequently slaughter the animals in a particularly painful and cruel manner — anal or vaginal electrocution.