Today, The Washington Post reported that Maryland state Delegate Tom Hucker (D-Montgomery County) is introducing a bill to require the labeling of fur garments, in response to rampant deception in the fur-trimmed apparel industry. The Speaker of the House and the Chairman of the Economic Matters Committee both commented favorably on the reform, sending a signal that enactment of this important policy to protect animals and inform consumers is within our reach.
Last year, New York’s state legislature passed a fur labeling law. This year, legislation is pending in Delaware and bills are expected to be introduced in Illinois and other states. New York City, Chicago, and the Baltimore-Washington area are three of the biggest fur-selling markets in the country, and it’s encouraging that lawmakers are taking a stand to give shoppers important product information.
Over the past two winters, an investigation by The Humane Society of the United States revealed that dozens of leading designers and department stores sold fur-trimmed jackets advertised as “fake fur” which were determined through laboratory testing to be real animal fur, even dog fur. Often when the fur was labeled as rabbit, raccoon, or coyote, it turned out to be from domestic dogs or raccoon dogs—a member of the dog family raised in factory farms and skinned alive in China. This widespread false advertising and false labeling shook up the fashion industry, and was covered on "Good Morning America" and "The Today Show".
Even though Congress banned the sale of dog and cat fur in 2000, a loophole in the federal labeling law has allowed dog fur to slip through the cracks as trim on the collars and cuffs of designer jackets. If the fur on a garment is valued at $150 or less, no label is required, and consumers are left in the dark as to its origin. With the infusion of Chinese fur into Western markets, there’s no telling what type of animal the fur came from.
Based on approximate pelt prices after processing, an individual garment using the fur from 30 rabbits ($5 each) could be sold without a label. The same goes for 25 ermines ($6 each), five raccoons ($28 each), three badgers, beavers, fishers, or minks ($50 each), three Arctic, grey, or red foxes ($50 each), one bear or timber wolf ($150), and so on. Lots of fur from lots of animals, and still there would be no requirement of a label.
A bipartisan bill in Congress introduced by Reps. Jim Moran (D-Va.) and Mike Ferguson (R-N.J.)—H.R. 891, the Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act—would require that all fur is clearly labeled, regardless of value, and would ban the sale of raccoon dog fur to stop the worst abuses in the industry. The bill has 165 co-sponsors, more than one-third of the House of Representatives, and a Senate version is expected to be introduced soon.
It’s a sensible public policy to give consumers the right to make informed purchasing decisions. Ask your state lawmakers to support truth in fur labeling, and tell Congress to pass the Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act. Shoppers shouldn’t have the fur pulled over their eyes.
