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The Los Angeles City Council has passed an ordinance to ban the sale and manufacture of new fur in L.A., which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2021.
Los Angeles has joined the likes of San Francisco in banning the sale and manufacture of animal fur products thanks to the enormous cruelty inflicted on the animals used for their fur.
In 2018, a unanimous decision by San Francisco’s board of supervisors, San Francisco voted to ban the sale of fur, making it the largest city in the country at the time to enact this type of ban.
However, with the landmark ruling passed by Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday, the city of LA can now proudly claim the title as the largest city to ban fur in the US.
The ban applies to a variety of products such as accessories using any fur, clothing, bags and jewellery.
The ‘Fur Ban’ motion was authored by council member Bob Blumenfield before the council decided to move forward with drafting an official ordinance in September.
In a statement given after the landmark ruling, Blumenfield said: “This arcane and inhumane practice must end and today; we said, loud and clear, fur will not have a future in Los Angeles. I am proud that our city made a giant step in ending the unnecessary killing of animals, but we must continue toward finally eliminating this vile market.”
PETA spokesperson Lisa Lange echoed these sentiments, stating: “Countless animals will now be spared the horror of being beaten, electrocuted and skinned alive for environmentally toxic products that kind shoppers don’t want and top designers won’t use. When Los Angeles speaks, the world listens.”
International Fur Federation
Not everyone is happy with the good news. Nancy Daigneault, vice president of the International Fur Federation, claims that the council has “failed to exercise due diligence in consideration of this ban. The motion put forward to the Personnel and Animal Welfare Committee in support of the ban was based on lies and inaccuracies provided in a 2009 HSUS propaganda piece. We provided a detailed eight-page rebuttal to all council member offices but received no follow-up calls, questions or invitations to discuss. (Extremely disappointing.)”
She claimed the ban will force businesses that were completely legal, “some of whom have operated for several generations in Los Angeles and have been significant contributors to local charities and organizations, to close their doors with absolutely no compensation from the city. These people will lose their livelihood. Employees will lose their jobs.”
Daigneault continued, “This was pure pork belly politics and there’s been no outreach nor consideration for compensation to the businesses that have been operating in the city for years.”
Falling Out Of Fashion
Fur has been rapidly falling out of fashion with designers in recent years with big brands such as Yoox Net-a-Porter Group, Gucci, Michael Kors, Versace, Burberry, Donna Karan, Coach, Chanel, Jean Paul Gautier and Jimmy Choo all turning their backs on fur.
