(FASHION/FUR) LOS ANGELES — West Hollywood, California has made history by becoming the first city in the U.S. to officially ban the sale of fur! As of Saturday, September 21st, it is now illegal for businesses in West Hollywood to sell fur, with infractions costing $250 in fines and fees. Supporters of the ban point out that more than 50 million animals are treated inhumanely and then killed for their fur to fuel the fashion industry every year. City officials gathered on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood to celebrate this huge legislative victory over the weekend. For more on the fur ban, read the full press release and visit the associated links below. — Global Animal
CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS CELEBRATE WEHO FUR BAN
It is now a crime to sell fur in West Hollywood. The progressive city became the first American city to ban the sale of fur. The ordinance took effect on Saturday, Sept 21, 2013. City Mayor Pro Tempore John D’Amico, chief sponsor of the bill, and Councilmember Jeffrey Prang, who penned the bill, celebrated in WeHo on Santa Monica Blvd with activists.
Ellen Lavinthal, co-organizer of Fur Free WeHo said, “It’s not just how they die, which is very painfully. It’s how they live up until they die, in cramped cages, with insufficient food, shelter and water. It’s horrific.”
Two years after the ban was tentatively adopted on Sept 20, 2011 and opposed by the Fur Information Council of America, stores like Balenciaga, Maxfield, Alberta Ferretti and Kitson will now have to remove fur from their WeHo stores. The ordinance states, “All retail establishments located within the City of West Hollywood will be prohibited from selling, trading, distributing, importing or exporting any fur product on or after September 21, 2013.”
A violation of the fur ban is subject to a civil administrative penalty; the first offense will be fined $200 plus a $50 admin fee.
More than 50 million animals are inadequately cared for and violently killed by fur farms selling to the fashion industry every year. Methods used to kill fur-bearing animals such as gassing, neck breaking, anal and genital electrocution are widely considered to be inhumane. Wild furbearing animals are also caught and killed in barbaric body-gripping traps. Many European countries are considering a ban on some or all fur farming.
For more information on Fur Free WeHo please click here:
http://www.furfreeweho.com/
For more information on fur farming please click here:
http://www.peta.org/features/n
For more information on the WeHo ordinance please click here: http://www.weho.org/index.aspx
