On Tuesday, March 12, the California Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife will be considering two bills that would end the cruel and senseless fur trade in California. Your voice is needed to help pass this important legislation, which would set a standard for the humane treatment of wildlife throughout the nation. You helped us get a ban imposed on commercial and recreational bobcat trapping in California in 2015—now let’s extend that ban to the other animals who suffer in the fur trade.
AB 273 would ban all fur trapping of fur-bearing and nongame mammals—including coyotes and foxes—in the state of California. AB 44 would prohibit the selling, giving, or manufacturing of new fur products in the state.
Please act today—urge the Committee to vote YES on AB 273 and AB 44. We also urge you to attend the hearing. Details below.
Contact the Committee Chair
Every Californian can contact the Water, Parks & Wildlife Committee Chair Eduardo Garcia to ask him to vote YES on AB 273 and AB 44.
- Email Chair Garcia: assemblymember.eduardogarcia@assembly.ca.gov
- Please also make a brief, polite call to Chair Garcia at (916) 319-2056.
Contact your Assembly Member if they sit on the Committee.
Below is a list other Assembly Members who sit on the Water, Parks & Wildlife Committee. Go here to see if one of these Assembly Members represents your district. If so, please write and call asking him or her to vote YES on AB 273 and AB 44.
Asm. Gallagher: (916) 319-2003; submit written comments here
Asm. Bigelow: (916) 319-2005; submit written comments here
Asm. Choi: (916) 319-2068; submit written comments here
Asm. Chu: (916) 319-2025; submit written comments here
Asm. Dahle: (916) 319-2001; submit written comments here
Asm. Friedman: (916) 319-2043; submit written comments here
Asm. (Cristina) Garcia: (916) 319-2058; submit written comments here
Asm. Gloria: (916) 319-2078; submit written comments here
Asm. Kalra: (916) 319-2027; submit written comments here
Asm. Levine: (916) 319-2010; submit written comments here
Asm. Rubio: (916) 319-2048; submit written comments here
Asm. Salas: (916) 319-2032; submit written comments here
Asm. Wood: (916) 319-2002; submit written comments here
Talking Points for AB 273 (banning the trapping of fur-bearing and nongame mammals):
- Hundreds of coyotes, foxes, and other animals are trapped in California so their pelts can be sold overseas.
- A tiny minority of the population traps animals for fur. Only 133 trapping licenses were sold to fur trappers in California in 2017 (and only 68 of those licensees trapped wildlife—killing 1,568 animals, including grey foxes, coyotes, beavers, badgers, muskrats and mink and selling 1,241 pelts for an estimated total of $4,531), generating less than $15,000 for the Department of Fish and Wildlife. It costs far more to manage and enforce fur trapping than money brought in by selling trapping licenses, meaning taxpayer dollars subsidize the fur industry.
- Coyotes, foxes and other wild animals are critical to healthy ecosystems–concentrated removal of these animals is counterproductive to sound wildlife management and is wasteful, unnecessary and cruel.
- California’s wildlife is worth more alive than dead. While the sale of fur pelts generated less than $5,000 in 2017, wildlife watching produced nearly $4 billion in revenue for California’s economy.
Talking Points for AB 44 (banning the trade of fur):
- By making it unlawful to sell, give or manufacture new fur products, AB 44 would remove the financial incentives to trap animals for their fur.
- Los Angeles, West Hollywood, San Francisco, and Berkeley have already made the enlightened decision to ban fur sales. This bill will bring the rest of California into compliance with this forward thinking legislation and make fur sale bans consistent statewide which will streamline and facilitate enforcement.
- On fur farms, animals live in tiny cages, causing tremendous stress that may lead to self-mutilation and infections. The animals are then anally electrocuted, strangled or gassed, and may even be skinned alive.
- AB 44 provides reasonable exemptions for used fur items and fur items used for religious purposes
Please join us on March 12 in Sacramento!
Your presence speaks volumes—please attend to show your support for AB 273 and AB 44. Testimony is limited to two speakers for each side, but you can still help if you simply appear and say, “I support AB 273 and AB 44.” Every voice counts!
What: Hearing on AB 273 and AB 44 by Committee on Water, Parks & Wildlife
Where: State Capitol, 10th and L Streets, Room 444, Sacramento, CA
Date: Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Time: 9:00 AM (we recommend arriving at 8:30 AM)
Thank you for speaking up for California’s wildlife!
Camilla Fox
Founder & Executive Director