LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The sale and manufacturing of all fur products would be banned in Los Angeles under a motion reviewed today by a City Council committee, which deferred any immediate action.
The Personnel and Animal Welfare Committee heard from a long line of animal rights activists in favor of the ban, but put off a decision for a few weeks while it looks into the potential economic impact of the ban and other questions.
The request for an economic impact analysis came from Councilman Curren Price, who is on the committee but was not present at Wednesday's meeting. Councilman Paul Koretz, who chairs the committee and co-introduced the motion, made it clear the economic impact was not of any concern to him.
“Personally I think it would be modest, and I don't really give a damn, because animal cruelty is animal cruelty and if we lose a few jobs, that's life,” Koretz said.
No one spoke out against the motion to ban fur sales in L.A., but many activists decried fur production as cruel and inhumane.
“The act of ripping the skin and fur from a defenseless animal just so we can sew it onto a coat or a pair of boots is a barbaric, inhumane act of brutality,” said Brian Ruppenkamp of the Los Angeles Animal Save. “It represents the worst of human ego, selfishness and cruelty. If we treated dogs and cats in the ways we treat foxes and mink, we would all be outraged.”
In March, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to make the city the largest in the nation which bans the sale and manufacturing of fur. The ban takes effect Jan. 1 but allows furriers and other retailers to sell current inventory until Jan. 1, 2020.
The L.A. fur motion would prohibit the manufacture and sale of fur products in the city beginning Jan. 1, 2020.
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