Dallas ? J.C. Penney Co. removed some fur-trimmed coats from its racks around Christmas after animal-rights activists objected that the fur came from wild dogs in China.

Last week, the department store company put the coats back on the racks – but only after directing employees to use marker pens to blot out the line on the label that identified the trim as raccoon fur.

The fur-collared leather coats were sold under the house brands St. John’s Bay and a.n.a., and by this week they were marked down at a store in Dallas from $349.99 to $74.99.

By putting the coats back on the racks, Penney is charting a different course than rival Macy’s, which last month pulled Sean John jackets after they turned out to contain the same fur. Macy’s said it has a policy against selling products with dog fur.

Animal-rights groups are using the incident to pressure Penney to drop sales of all real fur, including fox. A few clothiers such as Polo Ralph Lauren and J. Crew have stopped using fur, and designers Kenneth Cole and Calvin Klein have promised to follow suit.

But Penney, with more than 1,000 stores catering to middle-income shoppers, says it has no plans to alter its fashion selections.

“We do sell a few fur-trim items. We will continue to do so,” said Darcie Brossart, a spokeswoman for the Plano-based company.

Penney also downplays any link between Lassie and the animal whose fur is used on some of its garments. That animal is often called a raccoon dog because of its full coat and dark patches around the eyes.

“Asiatic raccoon is the species name,” Brossart said. “It’s on the Federal Trade Commission’s list of fur that is legal to sell in the United States. It’s not a dog.”