Fur Free West Hollywood: City of West Hollywood to Become One of the First in the Country to Create an Ordinance Prohibiting the Sale of Apparel Fur Products

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--The West Hollywood City Council has unanimously approved an item directing the City Attorney to draft an ordinance prohibiting the sale of fur apparel products. The effort will encourage the promotion of West Hollywood as a destination for cruelty-free and animal welfare events and establishing West Hollywood as the Humane Capital of the United States. The City of West Hollywood is one of the West Coast’s premiere shopping destinations for luxury fashion and known worldwide for its unprecedented commitment to animal welfare.

“This initiative is about thinking of creative and exciting new ways to be in the world – to really expand how it is we exist and the kinds of people we can be when we think carefully about the world we are living in”

The West Hollywood City Council also directed staff to work with the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, the West Hollywood Visitors and Convention Bureau, the Sunset Strip Business Association and the Avenues – Art, Fashion and Design District as well as local businesses and non-profit organizations to develop a strategic plan to establish and promote West Hollywood as a destination for the humane movement including cruelty-free fashion shows and conferences.

“In 1989, the City Council passed Resolution 558, which proclaimed our City to be a cruelty-free zone for animals. West Hollywood now has an opportunity to both uphold the tenets of Resolution 558 and to continue to provide policies and practices that would lead the way in how animals are treated in our society today,” said West Hollywood Councilmember John D’Amico, who initiated the item. “For our City, this is both good policy and a good business opportunity. West Hollywood is poised to position itself as a humane, thoughtful place and to extend that invitation to people from around the world who visit here as well as those who do business here. This is about who we are and the way we live now,” he continued.

According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), eighty-five percent of the fur industry’s skins come from animals living captive in fur factory farms. These farms can hold thousands of animals, and their farming practices are remarkably uniform around the globe. As with other intensive-confinement animal farms, the methods used in fur factory farms are designed to maximize profits, always at the expense of the animals. Animals that are slaughtered for their fur, whether they are raised on a fur farm or trapped in the wild, endure tremendous suffering.

Animals raised on fur farms typically spend their entire lives in cramped and filthy cages. No federal humane slaughter law protects animals in fur factory farms, and killing methods are gruesome. Fur farmers typically use the cheapest killing methods available, including suffocation, electrocution, gas and poison. More than half of the fur in the United States comes from China, where millions of dogs and cats are killed for their pelts, and there are no penalties for abusing animals.

“This initiative is about thinking of creative and exciting new ways to be in the world – to really expand how it is we exist and the kinds of people we can be when we think carefully about the world we are living in,” said Councilmember D’Amico.

The City of West Hollywood’s commitment to civil rights, human rights and animal rights is one of its most cherished legacies. The City of West Hollywood has consistently worked to enact cutting edge animal welfare legislation, both locally and across California. The City of West Hollywood was the first City in the United States to outlaw cat declawing; adopted a resolution supporting Proposition 2, which led to a statewide standard in the caging of chickens; as well as a new ordinance banning the retail sale of dogs and cats in companion animal stores in West Hollywood.