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Fur Coat Rack
Following in the footsteps of cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco, the Minneapolis City Council proposed an ordinance banning the sale and manufacture of new animal fur products.
Now that the ban has been proposed, there will be public hearings and voting scheduled for the future, says Matt Johnson, lead organizer of the coalition group Fur Free Minneapolis.
“This ban is focused at new fur products, so not used or secondhand furs, and it’s designed to stop new products from flowing into the city and into the market. For both animal cruelty reasons, and environmental reasons,” Johnson says.
The logistical aspects of the timeline, how it would be enforced, and when the council would vote on it have not been decided yet, he says, as they’re in the early process.
“We have been organizing this for over a year, and have talked to thousands of Minneapolis residents from all parts of the city, and people really understand this. They understand that fur isn’t necessary anymore, and that it does cause animals great harm,” Johnson says.
More than 100 million animals are killed every year, primarily just for their fur, according to the Animal Humane Society of the United States, estimating that 85 percent of them are from factory farms, and the rest are killed in the wild.
“If people aren’t familiar with it, they should just Google ‘fur farms’ and see what’s going on,” he says.
The animals are kept in very small cages, where their movement and behavior is restricted, often inflicting psychological torment resulting in injury, pacing, and cannibalism, according to a press release.
“The environmental side of why this is important is that a lot of endangered animals actually get caught in traps,” Johnson says. “And fur factory farms actually create a lot of pollution unnecessarily.”
Thrift and second-hand stores selling used animal fur would be exempt from the ordinance, as would Native American tribes selling fur for tribal, traditional, cultural, or spiritual reasons. And businesses selling new animal fur in Minneapolis would not be forced to close, but would have the chance to phase-in alternative product options.
But, Mike Brown, a spokesperson for the International Fur Trade Federation, says the prominent animal fur retailer Ribnick Luxury Outerwear will not be phasing out their real fur for faux fur.
“Real fur and faux fur are completely different fabrics,” Brown said in an email. “The threat of closing down such an institution in Minneapolis is disappointing to say the least. We hope that members of City Council reconsider any proposal that would lead the closing of small, family-owned businesses.”
Mayor D’Amico of West Hollywood endorsed the Minneapolis ordinance in a letter, explaining that his city’s sales tax revenue and brand have only become stronger since enacting their ban.
“We really believe that Minneapolis is progressive enough to be the next city to take action and be on the right side of history with this,” Johnson said. “The Minneapolis City Council has a really great opportunity now to follow the lead of other cities and be leaders on their own, and pass an ordinance that helps protect animals and protect the environment, and is in line with their own goals and their own sustainability.”
