Los Angeles, one of the world’s major fashion centers and long a symbol of glitz and glamour, is taking steps to ban the sale of new fur products, a move that would make it the largest city in the U.S. to do so.
A proposal to ban the sale of fur products advanced in the City Council on Tuesday. The council voted unanimously to direct the city attorney to draft an ordinance that will prohibit the manufacture and sale of new fur products. The ordinance must be presented to the council at a future date for final approval.
“This is something that is not just a good legislative win, it’s a moral win,” Councilman Bob Blumenfield said. “We feel like we’re evolving as a city as people to stop this kind of unnecessary cruelty.”
The vote also directed the city attorney to report back to the council on several issues, including how fur apparel is utilized by religious organizations and possible exemptions for religious items like Shtreimels worn by Hasidic Jews, as well as potential conflicts with federal and state laws relating to sale of fur products derived from legally trapped animals.
A ban would take effect two years after final approval of the ordinance.
The ban would cover apparel made in whole or in part of fur, including clothing, handbags, shoes, hats, earmuffs, jewelry and keychains. Only used fur products could be sold.
Councilmen Bob Blumenfield and Paul Koretz submitted the motion.
Blumenfield said there’s no reason to wear fur in 2018. “Certainly not in sunny Los Angeles,” he said.
“There’s nothing humane about raising an animal and killing it for unnecessary vanity,” Koretz said.
The effort to ban the sale of fur products in Los Angeles is part of a national movement, said Christina Sewell, campaign manager at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
“Millions of these animals are killed in the fur industry every year, and we’re just slowly chipping away at this progress here in the United States, and we won’t stop until every city in the U.S. is completely fur free,” Sewell said.
Neighboring West Hollywood along with Berkeley and San Francisco already have fur bans, although their ordinances differ in some specifics. West Hollywood’s law was changed to exempt fur from animals that are legally trapped under state law.
Major fashion companies, including Michael Kors, Armani and Gucci, have also moved away from using fur. Earlier this month, Burberry said it would stop selling real fur.
Activists condemn the fur industry as inhumane, contending that the animals are subject to brutal conditions and meet torturous deaths. A number of celebrities, including actresses Maggie Q and Joanna Krupa, as well as No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal, joined the news conference outside of Los Angeles City Hall to support the ban before the unanimous vote.
Keith Kaplan, spokesman for the Fur Information Council of America, a trade group for manufacturers and fur merchants, denied the accusations and said the City Council motion is being put forward on the basis of “lies and false studies.”
A fur ban in the city could have an economic impact, Kaplan said Monday.
“There’s a lot of fur sold in LA. It’s in over 500 designer collections, it’s on shoes, it’s on handbags,” he said. “So yes, it will have an impact on jobs, it will have an impact on tax revenues.”
Retail fur sales globally accounted for $35.8 billion, and the fur industry employed more than 1 million people in 2014, the latest year that figures were available from the industry, Kaplan said.
Koretz said the ban would clearly disrupt the industry, but the phase-out period will allow a smoother transition. “It’s overdue, and we have to do it today, and I think we will set an example for the rest of the country and the rest of the world,” he said.
(AP)
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9 Responses
Yes you have a problem with animals but the murder rate for humans keep increasing
What else to expect from this these evil Democrats who run Los Angeles and most of the cities in US. They all support murdering babies in mother’s wombs and selling their body parts on the market.
since probably moshe did not wear a shtreimel nor did the kohen gadol for certain, i think we ought to be free to disregard their teachings whenever the temperature goes above 70 degrees.
The minhagim of various chassidus to dress up in the hats of 17th century Polish/Russian nobility is certainly not m’doriassah and in any event, does not require real fur (versus feaux fur). It would no take long for the Courts to strike down any waiver of the law for “deeply held religious beliefs” since adherents of a particular fashion line can claim they are followers of the “Givenchy Rebbe” and are required to wear his fur hats and coats.
Yet more inane legislation in the Land of Fruits and Nuts. I would buy a shtreimel made from plastic drinking straws and fur, and then watch liberals explode.
Used fur? I can guarantee that any bit of fur in my closet is worn longer than it could be used by the original wearer in the natural world.
But I do agree with DrYidd, it is a little silly to get bent out of shape about making a Jewish tradition of mimicking the clothing styles of Polish nobility.
katen hatorah
at it again..mocking ehrlicher yidden and heilige tzaddikay kedoshei hador , manhigay yisroel .If they wore/wear it the must be a holy mihug no matter who wore it 300 years ago. and we dont care that davy crocket wore it
katan hador what do you wear tho observe not to wear ‘levush goyim, NOT to be like them and NOT to assimilate?
Under the proposed ordinance, can a Jewish Angelino buy his strimel on line from an ad on YWN? Or at a shop outside Los Angeles? As reported by YWN, the ban does not apply to wearing fur, just selling it.
It’s well known by now that these people that love animals hate people. It’s not insanity it’s kefira. Worse.