Brooks Law Digest: Fur

Rhode Island Senate Bill 2539 proposes to ban the sale, trade, and distribution of fur products within the state. An offense would be subject to a $500-$5000 fine per fur product, imprisonment of up to one year, or both. The legislation contains exemptions for used fur products sold in pawn or resale shops, fur products used in a religious ceremony, a product to be converted into leather, cowhide, lambskin, sheepskin, and any pelt used in taxidermy.

Alabama Senate Bill 196, if enacted, would give exclusive jurisdiction over all animal enterprises in the state to the Commissioner of Agriculture and Industry, ban any municipality or jurisdiction within the state from prohibiting (outright or via financial deterrents) animal enterprise, and criminalize the making of any report “clearly lacking any basis in fact or law” of animal cruelty against an animal enterprise. The bill would also discourage any entity holding an impounded animal from sterilizing the animal by making that entity liable for “the value of the animal and three times  the projected revenue over the reasonably expected life” of the animal.

Iowa Senate Bill 2388, if enacted, would prohibit any county or city in the state from enacting legislation that regulates any animal enterprise, including zoos, circuses, and any operation that uses animals for purposes such as entertainment or transportation.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund announced it has settled its case against Fur-Ever Wild, a wolf exhibiter in Minnesota. As part of the settlement, Fur-Ever Wild has agreed to no longer kill wolves or sell products made from wolves’ bodies. The lawsuit was originally brought in 2017 under the Endangered Species Act.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a bill into law that bans the sale of new items made from the fur of undomesticated animals (the ban would not apply to antique items and other agricultural products, like leather and sheepskin).

California Governor Newsom has signed a bill banning recreational and commercial fur trapping. The law does not apply to rats, mice, voles, moles, and gophers. The law also bans certain kinds of traps, including steel-jawed leghold traps.

A bill sent to California Governor Newsom’s desk would ban the sale of new items made from the fur of undomesticated animals (the ban would not apply to antique items and other agricultural products, like leather and sheepskin).