YES ON 308
End the sale of new fur products in Denver
Denver residents will vote this November on Citizen-Initiated Ordinance 308, a ballot measure to end the sale of new fur products and remove our community’s support from the cruel fur trade.
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Proposed Ordinance 308 is common-sense policy for people and animals. This reasoned legislation will end the manufacture and sale of new fur products throughout Denver, including fashion apparel, accessories, and home decor.
Ordinance 308 is focused strictly on removing Denver’s support of the cruel fur trade, where animals are primarily killed for fashion. As such, it includes exemptions for taxidermy, used fur products, and those used for tribal, cultural, or spiritual purposes by a member of a Native American tribe.
The proposed ordinance does not apply to leather products or other common livestock fiber products like cowhides, sheep and alpaca wool, and mohair. It also does not apply to fur pelts that have not yet been manufactured into consumer products, meaning hunters and trappers can still sell pelts they have obtained through their legal activities.
Ending fur sales will create a more humane marketplace for Denver’s consumers while having minimal impact to businesses. Polling shows that 71% of Americans, including Coloradans, oppose the killing of animals for their fur. Fortunately, alternative materials are readily available for products historically associated with fur. Major fashion brands are now using faux fur made from biodegradable or recycled materials that are more humane and sustainable than animal pelts. Denver will further drive demand for sustainable innovation in the fashion industry by passing Ordinance 308 and ending the sale of new fur products.
Sixteen municipalities and the entire state of California have passed similar prohibitions on the sale of new fur products. This includes Boulder, CO which passed a fur sales ban in 2021. In areas where similar bans on new fur products have passed, fur retailers remain in business. They continue to provide fur-related services such as storage and cleaning, sell used and vintage fur products, and transition to faux fur options.
Photo credit: Jo-Anne McArthur
Severe animal cruelty involved in making fur products. Every year, tens of millions of wild animals are confined in fur factory farms just to be crudely killed and turned into needless fur products. The overwhelming majority of these farms are located overseas, primarily in China, where these animals spend their entire lives in cages, deprived of their natural behaviors, only to be gassed or electrocuted at the end. They suffer serious welfare problems, such as self-mutilation, infected wounds, and illness.
In the U.S. and internationally, the fur farming industry is largely unregulated and typically not subject to animal welfare or humane slaughter laws. Instead, fur farmers rely on voluntary management practices established by the industry itself which focus on efficiency of production, not animal or environmental health.
Photo credit: Otwarte Klatki
Fur factory farms are a biosecurity threat to the public and wildlife. Extensive research shows that fur factory farms pose a significant health risk to humans, with these facilities harboring several high-risk viruses known to infect humans. For example, mink on hundreds of fur factory farms across Europe and North America, including in the U.S., have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Research shows that farmed mink can spread the mutated virus to humans, especially in fur factory farm conditions.
Now, the highly pathogenetic strain of avian flu (H5N1) has been detected in mink, foxes and raccoon dogs, leading to serious concerns for potential transmission to humans. Diseases from fur farms also threaten wildlife, with escaped animals infecting wild populations near fur farms.
Fur production is harmful for humans and the environment. The fur industry has the largest negative environmental impact of any material used for fashion, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, waste runoff, and toxicity.
Processing and dying fur require the use of toxic, carcinogenic chemicals, like chromium and formaldehyde, to prevent the skin from decaying. This hazardous process has led to fur dressing being ranked as one of the world's five worst industries for toxic-metal pollution by the World Bank. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has previously fined six fur processing plants for causing high levels of pollution and for using solvents that may cause respiratory problems and other health issues.