Categories: Animal Rights, Fur Industry

A Fur Free Future…The Fight Continues!

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Published On: March 13, 2019
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BREAKING NEWS: CALIFORNIA LAWMAKERS MOVE TO BAN FUR! #JaneUnChained is #LIVE at a rally outside the Capitol in Sacramento! AB 273, the Wildlife Protection Act of 2019 (Banning Fur Trapping) and AB 44 the California Fur Ban BOTH passed in the California State Assembly Water Parks and Wildlife Committee Hearing!!! But, the fight to get these bills signed into law has just begun! Listen to amazing speeches from Wayne Hsiung of Direct Action Everywhere – DxE, Judie Mancuso of Social Compassion In Legislation and Katie Cleary of World Animal News! Lisa Karlan reports for JaneUnChained News.

 

 

From Direct Action Everywhere:

“The California fur ban passed its first test. Today, the Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife of the California Assembly voted eight to four to approve AB44, the California statewide fur ban. Now we need your help to sustain this change.

Over 100 individuals from 14 animal rights organizations appeared during the committee hearing to show their support for the bill. Speakers for the ban highlighted the cruelty to animals in the fur trade, including death by anal electrocution, and implored the committee to be a leader in ending this injustice. And thousands more people supported online. It is thanks to you that the committee made the right decision.

But the effort is only beginning. The bill needs to pass through several more committees in both the Assembly and the Senate before facing votes in both chambers. The opposition, which is overwhelmingly comprised by industry groups outside of California, will fight it every step of the way.”

Here’s How Social Compassion In Legislation Explains The Issue:

 

Assembly Bill 273, the Wildlife Protection Act of 2019, which would finally end the de facto taxpayer-subsidized commercial fur trapping industry in California, cleared a key hurdle today when it passed the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee with a vote of 9 to 3. The bill, authored by California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D – San Diego) and cosponsored by Social Compassion in Legislation and the Center for Biological Diversity, is an effort to end California’s costly program that destroys wildlife for commercial purposes.
“Fur trapping is an outdated practice that is subsidized by California taxpayers, even though state law requires the program to cover its own costs, “Assemblywoman Gonzalez said. “I want to thank my colleagues in the Assembly for taking a first step towards this long-overdue change.”
Hundreds of coyotes, foxes, badgers and other fur-bearing animals are trapped each year in California so their pelts can be sold for a profit overseas. Because individual trappers concentrate their operations in limited geographical areas, they can locally deplete populations of the species they target, impairing the ecological functioning of the area and diminishing opportunities for wildlife watching in these areas.
In 2017, a total of 133 trapping licenses were sold to fur trappers in California, generating approximately $15,000 to the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Given this revenue generated by the sale of trapping licenses would only cover a fraction of the costs of even a single warden, proper management and enforcement of a fur trapping program would cost far more than the revenue generated by licenses, resulting in a de facto subsidy of commercial fur trapping.
“California’s ecosystem is among the most fragile in the world, and our wildlife is already under constant threat from wildfire, drought, and development – the last thing they need is to try to survive an outdated and heartless fur trapping policy,” said Judie Mancuso, Founder and President of Social Compassion in Legislation, a cosponsor of the bill. “Californians have shown up time and time again at the polls and vote overwhelmingly to protect our wildlife, we value them alive, rather than as commodities to be killed, skinned and sold. We thank the committee for taking a stand for all of us today.”
“Current California law allows a single fur trapper to systematically deplete the wildlife in this area to the detriment of the millions of visitors to our parks and monuments,” said Brendan Cummings, Conservation Director at the Center for Biological Diversity, who are also cosponsoring the legislation. “By prohibiting commercial fur trapping in California, AB 273 will protect not just the wildlife and ecology of the state, but also the tourism-dependent communities that are tied to healthy wildlife populations.”
AB 273, modeled on the successful and fiscally-responsible end of bobcat trapping in California that was passed in 2015, addresses the funding shortfall in the state’s fur trapping program by banning the practice in California. The measure will now advance to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

 

LT to RT: Lisa Karlan, Simone Reyes, Judie Mancuso, Assemblymember, Ash Kalra; Nick Sackett, Valarie Ianniello

 

Simone Reyes, Social Compassion speaking with Wayne Hsiung from Direct Action Everywhere (DxE)

 

Lisa Karlan, Katie Cleary & Simone Reyes at the Capitol in Sacramento

 

Watch the video below LIVE from the Capitol in Sacramento! AB 273, the Wildlife Protection Act of 2019 (Banning Fur Trapping) and AB 44 the California Fur Ban BOTH passed in the California State Assembly Water Parks and Wildlife Committee Hearing!!! But, the fight to get these bills signed into law has just begun! Watch the action!

 

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About the Author: Donna Dennison

Donna Dennison is an UnchainedTV writer, graphic designer, video editor, and IG contributor. Donna is also a creative in the film industry.
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