LCA Blog

On the heels of Senator Gabbard announcing the introduction of legislation that would ban the manufacture and sale of fur in the state of Hawaii, Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) has submitted Assembly Bill 273, which would prohibit the state of California from issuing fur trapping licenses.

Each year, thousands of fur-bearing animals are cruely captured and killed for their pelts. During the 2017-18 trapping season, the Department of Fish and Wildlife issued 133 commercial and recreational fur trapping licenses, which trappers used to capture a reported total of 1,568 animals – including 995 muskrats, 167 gray foxes, and 118 coyotes. These figures represent a whopping 215 percent increase in the harvest of fur-bearing animals compared to the 2016-17 trapping season, during which only 120 licenses were sold.

On Thursday, January 24th, Hawaii State Senator Gabbard announced legislation had been introduced that, if passed, would effectively ban the manufacture and sale of fur products in Hawaii.

The bill, "A Bill For An Act Relating To Animal Fur Products," would also prohibit the shipment or transport of "certain fur products" in the state for the purpose of selling or distributing them.

Each year, more than one billion rabbits and 50 million other animals, including foxes, seals, mink, and raccoon dogs, are raised on fur farms only to be violently killed for their fur. The vast majority of fur-bearing animals raised on these farms are kept in deplorable conditions and confined to tight cages, often resulting in self-mutilation, cannibalism, and high stress levels among the animals. Worldwide, there are also approximately ten million wild animals trapped and killed exclusively for their fur each year.