A bill was signed into law last weekend which makes California the first US state to ban animal fur products. The sale and manufacture of handbags, shoes and clothing containing fur will be outlawed from 2023. The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, said that it is “one of the strongest animal rights laws in US history”.
Animal rights advocates hope that it will encourage other states to follow suit and are of course delighted. Tracy Reiman, Executive Vice President, PETA said: “Today is a historic day for animals in California.”
The move was condemned by the Fur Information Council. They say that fur traders bring about $1.5 billion to the US economy and that the ruling is part of a “radical vegan agenda using fur as the first step to other bans on what we wear and eat”.
The ban does not cover second-hand items, cowhide, leather or the full skin of deer, sheep and goats. Offenders will be fined up to $1000. Excluded from the ban is fur used for religious purposes and for rituals by Native Americans.
Britain became the first of many countries to ban the farming of but not its sale in 2000. Leading fashion designers such as Gucci, Giorgio Armani and Versace ended the use of fur in their products or have committed to doing so soon.
Comment: this pleases me immensely, obviously, because fur trading creates a huge amount of animal cruelty and misery. Over the decades the skins of hundreds of thousands of wild cats have been taken from the animals to be put on the backs of female humans mainly. Bobcat and lynx fur is still big business in the US. I find it hateful. The farmers keep these beautiful cats in cages or they trapped and killed by people insensitive to the welfare of animals. Fur on clothes is passe. It is outdated. Times have changed. It seems that California and New York (banning declawing statewide) are the leading US states on animal welfare.
