Breaking news: Los Angeles votes to ban fur; largest U.S. city to do so

The fur trade kills more than 100 million animals each year, and it does so in the most egregious ways. Photo by iStockphoto

The Los Angeles City Council has just voted unanimously to ban the sale of fur within city limits, making this the largest American city to do so. San Francisco passed a similar ban earlier this year. Today’s historic vote in Los Angeles, which comes just days after fashion giant Burberry and London Fashion Week announced they would go fur-free, is further proof that fur, a product that comes from the most shocking cruelty to animals, has no future.

“There is no reason to wear fur in 2018, certainly not in sunny Los Angeles,” Councilmember Bob Blumenfield said in his remarks just before the vote. “When LA takes these actions, the second largest city in this nation takes action, it will reverberate throughout this country, and throughout this world.”

The vote today is not the final step, but it sets the council on a clear path to enact this ban against fur in coming months.

A number of large fashion houses, clothing brands, high-end retailers, fashion magazines and department stores have announced fur-free policies in recent years, including Gucci, Versace, Michael Kors, InStyle magazine, YOOX Net-a-Porter and Burlington. More recently, TJX, the parent company for stores like T.J. Maxx, T.K. Maxx, Marshalls, Sierra Trading Post, Homesense and HomeGoods, announced a fur-free policy for all locations in the United States and Europe.

Several California cities have also said no to fur. In addition to San Francisco and now Los Angeles, Berkeley banned fur last year, and West Hollywood did so in 2013.

As consumers have become more aware of the cruelty behind the fur trade, more and more Americans and people around the world are embracing alternatives. The fur trade kills more than 100 million animals each year, and it does so in the most egregious ways. Animals used for fur are either trapped in the wild, where they remain for days without food or water, or they are raised in cramped cages for their entire life and then killed cruelly by electrocution or gassing.

Companies and cities that are taking the lead in recognizing this cruelty and rejecting fur are being rewarded with positive feedback by fashion media, on social media, and from their own customers.

The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International have been fighting the fur trade for a long time, and we have worked with everyone, from off-price retailers to luxury brands, to move the ball forward for animals used for fashion. We applaud and celebrate TJX’s public fur-free announcement and this momentous decision today by Los Angeles. The ordinance, which includes a two-year phase out period, will go into effect pending the mayor’s approval, and we are confident he will sign it.

But the fight against fur is far from over: there are still some outliers in the fashion world who continue to cling to fur, and one such company is Prada. The HSUS earlier this month launched a campaign to urge Prada to join its competitors by going fur-free, and we need your help. Please call Prada today to let them know you do not support fur. Now is the time for them to decide if they want to be on the right side of the fur-free fashion revolution.

*Editor’s note: HSUS and the Fur Free Alliance are in open dialogue with Prada, and we should have an update soon. Please stay tuned.