A lawmaker in Hong Kong has compared wearing a mink coat to eating beef, drawing flak from animal rights activist and netizens. 

Regina Ip, a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, wore a blood-red mink coat during a council meeting on Wednesday. When reporters asked her about the coat, she made the comment. 

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Ip first said that the coat was designed in Italy and made in Guangzhou. It was valued at  ¥10,000 ($1,500) when she bought it ten years ago in Harbin. 

But the highlight was her comparison that irked many. 

"Wearing fur is just as bad as eating beef," Ip said, adding that she doesn't know why people are very much against wearing fur. 

According to The Stand News, Ip said many believe that eating beef, or any other animal, for that matter, damages the environment because of the carbon footprints its production leaves, such as greenhouse gases and deforestation. She added that "all animal husbandry is inhumane." 

She also cited unnamed American documentaries "that talk about how inhumane the poultry industry is." 

"Mink farms in North America rear a few million animals, which is actually environmentally friendly," she said. However, she did not answer the reporters' questions of how it's more eco-friendly. 

"There's also a website called 'Fur is Green,' times are changing. Mink farming can be more humane than rearing chicken or cattle. The trend has changed, they just haven't caught up," Ip said. 

Fur is Green is a Canadian website that encourage using clothes made from fur. It also provides information on how the fur is collected, which does not involve skinning animals alive. Some only get the fur while some are euthanized before they are skinned. 

"Eating beef is nothing to be proud of, and it should also not be encouraged. But wearing mink coats is a thousand times crueller than eating beef. It's astounding how shameless and ignorant she is, being a lawmaker," said Mark Mak Chi-ho, an animal rights activist. 

"Today she tried to rationalise an unethical behaviour. It not only harmed animals, but is also a blow to our civil quality," he added. 

For Ip, the mink trade doesn't pose any problem and sees no reason in interfering as its ban will also leave many people unemployed. 

TagsRegina Ip, animal rights in Hong Kong, Legislative Council of Hong Kong, Mark Mak Chi-ho