FUR BANS

FAQ S
DO FUR SALE BANS IMPACT PEOPLE’S
ABILITY TO WEAR FUR?
No, these laws only apply to the sale of new fur products.

HOW IS FUR PRODUCED?

The vast majority of fur items come from animals who are
raised on fur farms in factory-like conditions. Animals, including
foxes, minks, and rabbits, are typically crammed into tiny wire

What are cages and unable to engage in most of their natural behaviors.

fur sale bans? They frequently resort to self-mutilation, obsessive pacing,

and infanticide. On some fur farms, animals have no protection
Fur sale bans typically from the heat and cold. On other farms, animals are kept in cages
in barns that are poorly ventilated and high concentrations of
prohibit the sale of new fur
ammonia — a byproduct of animals’ waste — burns their eyes
products, including items like and throats.
coats and hats. These bans
To maintain the integrity of their skin and fur — the “pelt” —
often extend to accessories
animals are usually killed via suffocation, electrocution, gassing,
that have fur adornments like or poisoning. Sometimes, they are bludgeoned in the head or
pom poms or collars, as well face repeatedly. In anal or vaginal electrocution, the electrodes
are attached to the animal’s face and genitals to induce a heart
as home décor. Existing fur
attack. Animals are frequently skinned alive while still conscious.
sale bans have included
exemptions for secondhand While most commercially sold fur comes from fur farms, some
animals are trapped in the wild. Trapping is largely regulated
fur products as well as
at the state level, and most states provide only minimal
products used for protections for fur-bearing animals. In some states, for
religious or tribal purposes. example, it’s legal to set a trap and not check it for days.
Desperate and terrified, animals will sometimes chew their
own legs off in an attempt to escape. Trappers may shoot,
strangle, drown, or bludgeon trapped animals.
aldf.org | PAGE 1
FUR BAN FAQs continued

HAVE ANY U.S. STATES OR CITIES IS FUR STILL POPULAR

PROHIBITED THE SALE OF FUR? IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY?
In 2019, California made history as the first state in the Fashion designers are moving away from using fur in their
nation to ban the sale of new fur products. The law was clothing and accessories. Approximately 300 brands and
enacted after several California cities — West Hollywood retailers have adopted fur-free policies including Macy’s,
(2011), Berkeley (2017), San Francisco (2018), and Versace, Bloomingdale’s, Gucci, and Prada. Magazines
Los Angeles (2019) — passed similar laws. In 2020, have also taken a stand against fur, for example, InStyle
fur bans were proposed in the Hawaii, New York, and magazine banned fur from its pages in 2018. The abundance
Rhode Island legislatures. We expect additional states of high-quality alternatives to fur, in conjunction to shifting
and municipalities to consider fur bans in 2021. consumer preferences, makes fur an increasingly unpopular
choice for retailers and designers.
Furthermore, California recently banned commercial and
recreational fur trapping with the passage of the Wildlife IS FUR ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY?
Protection Act of 2019. Trapping for sanitation and public Fur farming involves the use of numerous toxic chemicals
health is still permitted. and heavy metals. During the tanning and dying process
carcinogenic chemicals, like chromium and formaldehyde,
HAVE OTHER COUNTRIES PASSED LAWS are applied to prevent the pelts from decaying. These
REGULATING OR BANNING FUR chemicals leach into the environment, endanger the health
PRODUCTION OR SALES? of farm workers, and may ultimately be absorbed through
Numerous countries and international cities have passed the skin of people who wear fur products. Furthermore,
laws prohibiting fur farming or banning the importation animals on fur farms produce a tremendous amount of
of certain fur products. For example, more than a dozen waste that contaminates the soil and waterways and
European countries, including the United Kingdom, contributes to climate change.
Belgium, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Norway, have
outlawed fur production. Fur production is so toxic that when the European Fur
Breeders’ Association ran ads claiming it was “eco-friendly
Other countries, like Sweden, have enacted regulations so to wear fur,” the Advertising Standards Authority, the U.K.
restrictive that they serve as a de facto ban on fur farming. agency that regulates advertising, ruled it was misleading
Additionally, India ended the importation of fur in 2017, and banned the campaign.1
and São Paolo, Brazil banned the import and sale of fur
in 2015. 1 https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/mar/21/eco-friendly-fur-ad-banned

aldf.org | PAGE 2
FUR BAN FAQs continued

HOW DOES FUR FARMING

ENDANGER PUBLIC HEALTH?
Whenever animals are intensively confined without regard for
their health or welfare, public health is endangered. Fur farms
confine thousands of animals to small barns or open-air cage
systems. Sanitation is poor, and veterinary care is almost
non-existent. As a result, these farms are breeding grounds
for pathogens that ultimately result in zoonotic diseases —
harmful germs carried by animals that can spread to people
and cause illness. In the spring of 2020, SARS-CoV-2, the virus
that causes the disease abbreviated as COVID-19, was found
on more than a dozen fur farms in the Netherlands. Minks,
cats, and humans working on the farm tested positive for the
disease. Dutch health officials believe two farm workers initially
passed the infection to the minks though it is also “plausible”
that some workers later became infected from the animals.2

In 2013, the Netherlands voted to phase out fur farming by

2024. Due to the fur farms’ role in the spread of COVID-19,
the Dutch Members of Parliament voted to shut down mink
fur farms immediately instead.

HAVE FUR BANS BEEN CHALLENGED IN COURT?

While fur industry groups have attacked fur sale bans in court,
their lawsuits have been unsuccessful. In early 2020, the
International Fur Federation filed a constitutional challenge
to the San Francisco fur sale ban. In July 2020, the U.S. District
Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the
lawsuit, ruling that the Constitution’s Commerce Clause does
not preclude San Francisco from ridding its marketplace of
cruel fur products.

2h
 ttps://time.com/5875031/europe-mink-farms-coronavirus/

aldf.org | PAGE 3