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California Passes Fur Ban
Faux fur has enjoyed wide popularity during 2019, but it was a tough year for businesses working with real fur. California became the first state to ban the sale and manufacture of fur. On Oct. 12, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 44, which made it unlawful to sell, display or distribute a fur product for monetary or nonmonetary consideration. The bill also made it unlawful to manufacture a fur product in the state for sale.
Leather, cowhide and shearling as well as fur products used for religious purposes are exempted from the law. Taxidermy is also exempted as is vintage fur and fur taken by an individual with a legal hunting license.
Bill author Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) said that the law made an important statement about California.
“With the stroke of his pen, Gov. Newsom took a principled stance in support of the values made clear by Californians at the ballot box, namely, that we won’t support the inhumane treatment of animals,” she said.
The law goes into effect Jan. 1, 2023, and was the culmination of years of work on the part of anti-fur activists working to pass fur bans on the local level. West Hollywood, Calif., passed a fur ban in 2011, and Berkeley, Calif., San Francisco and Los Angeles followed. Friedman proposed a statewide ban so fur sales would be illegal across the state and various localities would have a general law to guide them.
Opponents of the ban criticized it for limiting consumer choice and criminalizing a business that is legal everywhere else in the United States. San Francisco’s ban will be challenged in court in 2020 when the city law takes effect, said Keith Kaplan, director of communications and public policy for the Fur Information Council of America. If a judge finds fault with San Francisco’s municipal fur ban, FICA might challenge other cities’ fur bans as well as the California-state fur ban, saying that the ban hurts California retailers and designers.
“It won’t have the intended effect,” Kaplan said. “It won’t cut into fur sales. The luxury customer will buy fur when she travels.”
