L.A. targets sale of new fur products

City Council prepares ban that’s ‘moral win’

LOS ANGELES — 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, as well as potential conflicts with federal and state laws relating to the 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.

Blumenfield and fellow Councilman 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.

Richard Vogel The Associated Press Emily Rohr, right, joins fur ban protesters with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals before a news conference Tuesday at Los Angeles City Hall.