Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday signed a package of bills targeting animal cruelty, including the nation’s first state ban on the sale of new fur products.
The prohibition on fur means it will be illegal to manufacture, sell, offer for sale, trade or distribute fur products in California.
“California is a leader when it comes to animal welfare and today that leadership includes banning the sale of fur,” Newsom said.
The ban under Assembly Bill 44, by Assemblymember Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) applies to products like handbags, clothing and shoes that contain fur.
The new law exempts leather, cowhide and shearling, as well as fur products used for religious purposes. The law also has provisions that exempt taxidermy products such as those available at https://all-taxidermy.com/product-category/taxidermy-mounts/deer-taxidermy-mounts/ , fur from an animal lawfully taken with a hunting license, and used fur.
Animal rights groups on Saturday hailed the new law and said they hope it would inspire similar legislation across the country.
“The enactment of AB 44 reflects the evolving attitudes of compassionate Californians who reject ‘fashion’ made from tortured animals, and paves the way for other states-and ultimately, the world-to go fur-free,” said Fleur Dawes, Communications Director for In Defense of Animals.
Representatives of the fur industry, however, said Saturday that they would challenge the new law in court, saying it would force longtime businesses to close with no compensation.
“Governor Newsom has now made California the first state in the nation to abolish a centuries-old, lawful, highly regulated, job-producing, environmentally sound, tax-paying industry,” said Keith Kaplan of the Fur Information Council of America.
The five-bill package signed by Newsom also included Senate Bill 313, by State Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, banning wild animals like elephants and bears from being used in circus acts.
The practice of animals doing dangerous tricks for entertainment was “deeply disturbing,” the governor said in a news release.
“We are making a statement to the world that beautiful wild animals like bears and tigers have no place on trapeze wires or jumping through flames,” Newsom said.
In addition, the governor signed Assembly Bill 1254, which bans on hunting or killing bobcats in California; Assembly Bill 128, legislation aimed to protect wild and domestic horses from slaughter; and Assembly Bill 1260, which adds more types of animals, such as iguana and hippopotamus to the import and trade prohibition of animals and dead animal parts.
27 comments
Just saw two elephants high-fiving.
A relative purchased a very fine mink coat in 1968. It’s appraised value for insurance was $12,000. It was recently sold to a foreign national for $400. Will PETA be opposed to fur coats when society collapses and people are killing whatever they can for meat and clothing?
Yes
OH NO!!!…Newscum will have to tear my emotional support hippopotamus from my dead cold hands!
Everyday twice a day millions of cows are brought into a barn, put in a stanchion and have pumps connected to their udders. Thousands of steers, pigs, turkeys, chickens and lambs have their brains banged in. I think a tiger can handle jumping through a hoop. I think people can ride and race horses. Mewcom is a complete flake. He placates ever little interest group. A real leader. LOL
I though real fur was banned ages ago. Did it get lifted somewhere along the line? Synthetic fur is sometimes hard to tell from the real. So please don’t toss mud on mine.
Glad the CA politicians keep providing comedy material to the rest of the country…
Evidently you’ve never lived near animals that are poached, killed, slaughtered or abused: AND THEN traded illegally to purchase a Locust.
Locust as in grasshoppers? There is a big market for them?!?
And we thought MoonBeam and his train to nowhere was off the charts….Newsom is a complete tool; some liberal political interest group squeaks and he jumps. Side note: Gavin stop using 40 weight oil as a hair product you look like a walking oil spill.
Heard on the news last night we can still have rodeos. Which is good but not consistent in the brains of democrats.
At least he’s doing something right!
What about Sea World and Marine World? Will they be closing? Or is that still ok?
What’s gong to happen if these animals can not perform there is no reason to have them, off to the slaughterhouse.
What about the Frog jumps, Pig racing, Horse racing, Pigeon racing and Pony rides at the Punkin patch. Are they all going away.
We need to be careful what possible implications and consequences could arise from this. Next stop that nice leather jacket that nice purse in the window? Even shoes could be next. There’s no telling where this could end up.
Ever notice when he introduces a bill, he spends more time highlighting that “California is the first” than he does on the actual content of the bill?
That tells you a lot about the guy and his motives right there.
Just wait until he passes an animal bill of rights and bans the private slave ownership (he’ll say it’s steeped in tradition of white supremacy) of those things called “pets.”
Prison for petting puppies.
No big deal. Fur clothing is ugly anyway.
Raquel Welch rocked that fur clothing thing in One Million Years BC movie, worked for me then……still does.
No problem banning the sale of new furs. With all this global warming, who really needs them anyway. If it’s going to get that hot, the animals may just start shedding their coats all by themselves. Humans can scavenge the fur balls and knit them into coats for the children.
good, particularly the trapping bill, but all overdue.
Because trapping bobcats is a huge issue here in the bay area LOL God these Democrats are just awful they can’t pass any decent bills all these bills this guy’s passing Are what a Proto typical screeching purple haired progressive Berkeley student/homeless lifer would parrot
It’s about time! Glad Newsom finally got something right.
Those who bother to vote have only themselves to blame for the lunacy which continually spews from CA’s state legislature. What is happening there is akin to giving eleven year olds free reign and a no limit credit card, then failing to provide any adult supervision.
Any passing fad that catches their eye or knee jerk reaction to news stories stand a good chance of becoming law as they try to out liberal the rest of the world.
They are giving new depth and meaning to term, feckless.
If people did not trap or shoot animals for there furs they would over populate get a disease and then they would all die and become extinct. Same for hunting deer, turkey, elk, etc, etc. “Then Newsom would turn around and blame the hunters for not killing enough animals and making them go extinct”.
Now that the Homeless situation and all of the other serious problems have been taken he can now concentrate on these minor issues.
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