Fur? What Fur?

©Grzybowski/The HSUS

This jacket, with no mention of fur on the label, was sold in a U.S. store in January 2007. The fur on it was later identified by mass spectrometry as raccoon dog.

On August 15, 2007, New York shoppers received new protections against being duped about the garments they buy. On that day, Governor Eliot Spitzer signed into law a measure requiring the truthful labeling of garments made with real fur.

Why would legislators have to pass a law forcing furriers to admit their jackets contain fur? Surprisingly, many sellers of fur trim do not legally have to reveal the existence of real fur on their garments.

A growing number of consumers are concerned about garments made with fur from raccoon dogs—who are routinely skinned alive for their fur—or fur from domestic dogs, which is slipped into garments from China and peddled as “faux” in the U.S. Many shoppers do not want to support the suffering of minks caught in steel-jawed leghold traps or of rabbits confined in tiny cages on fur farms.

While the federal Fur Products Labeling Act of 1951 requires that most fur garments sold in America be labeled with the common species name of the animals killed for the garment (and the country in which they were killed), there is a catch: the Act excludes any garments containing a “relatively small quantity or value” of fur, defined by the Federal Trade Commission as anything worth $150 or less.

This exception exists despite the fact that the garment could contain the pelts from several animals and despite the fact that people who oppose the wearing of fur oppose it in any quantity, whether it is worth $1 or $1,000. Leaving consumers to guess whether a garment’s fur is real or faux undermines the very intent of the Fur Products Labeling Act.

The New York measure, A.B. 8966a, was sponsored by Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal (D, 67) and Senator Frank Padavan (R, 11). Similar laws already exist in Massachusetts and Wisconsin, and another such bill has been introduced in Delaware.

Additionally, Congress is considering fur-labeling legislation at the federal level: H.R. 891, the Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act. Introduced by Reps. Jim Moran (D-Va.) and Mike Ferguson (R-N.J.), H.R. 891 would close the $150 loophole and would specifically ban raccoon dog fur. With 100 cosponsors to date, the bill has the support of retailers and designers like Tommy Hilfiger, Burlington Coat Factory, Loehmann's, House of Deréon, Marc Ecko Enterprises and Buffalo Exchange.

Updated Aug. 28, 2007

See the Video

Life and Death of China's Raccoon Dog

Related Links

Fur-Free Designers and Retailers

The Cruel Reality of Fur Production

Caged Fur: The Inside Story

Trapping: The Inside Story

Dog Scandal Pushes New Fur Labeling Bill

Faux or Feline? The Truth in Fur Labeling Act Will Help You Choose

How Do Fur Animals Die?