Fur-Free Brookline
UPDATE: The below proposed fur sales ban passed on November 1, 2021 (170 in favor, 34 opposed, 20 abstentions)
A proposed bylaw for Brookline’s November 2021 Annual Town Meeting
Supported by the Humane Society of the United States, the MSPCA, and the Animal Legal Defense Fund
Each year, more than 100,000,000 animals are raised or trapped and killed for their fur, enduring tremendous suffering. Animals raised on fur farms typically spend their entire lives in cramped and filthy cages and animals trapped in the wild can languish for many hours or days without food or water. Fur farmers typically use the cheapest (and therefore slowest) killing methods available, including suffocation, electrocution, gas and poison. Additionally, fur production has an extremely adverse impact on the environment, from greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss to waste and toxin runoff.
Please consult “Fur Industry Facts” and “News” on this website for further information about the animal cruelty and adverse environmental impact of the fur industry, and for information about the numerous successful fur bans already implemented in the United States and abroad, including the recent state-wide California fur sales ban and country-wide fur ban in Israel. In Massachusetts, fur sales bans in Wellesley and Weston have already passed. As two recent polls by the Humane Society Legislative Fund and Fur-Free Alliance have demonstrated, the majority of Massachusetts voters support a fur-free state.
PART VIII – PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY
New Article 8.40: Trade in Fur Products
To see if the town will amend the general bylaws by adding the following new Article 8.40, Trade in Fur Products, providing as follows:
8.40.1 - Purpose and Findings. To protect the health and welfare of the inhabitants of this town, this bylaw will restrict trade in fur products. Fur farms are reservoirs and transmission vectors for dangerous zoonotic diseases, including SARS coronaviruses, that threaten public health, including in the Town of Brookline. In addition, the fur production process is energy intensive and has a significant environmental impact, including air and water pollution, and animals that are slaughtered for their fur endure tremendous suffering. Eliminating the sale of fur products in the Town of Brookline will decrease the demand for these cruel and environmentally harmful products and promote community health and wellbeing as well as animal welfare, and, in turn, will foster a more humane environment in the Town and enhance the reputation of the Town.
8.40.2 - Definitions. For purposes of this Article, the following words and phrases have the definitions set forth next to them:
“Fur”: Any animal skin or part thereof with hair, fleece, or fur fibers attached thereto, either in its raw or processed state.
“Fur product”: Any article of clothing or covering for any part of the body, or any fashion accessory, including, but not limited to handbags, shoes, slippers, hats, earmuffs, scarves, shawls, gloves, jewelry, keychains, toys or trinkets, and home accessories and décor, that is made in whole or part of fur. “Fur product” does not include any of the following:
a. An animal skin or part thereof that is to be converted into leather, or which in processing will have the hair, fleece, or fur fiber completely removed;
b. Cowhide with the hair attached thereto;
c. Lambskin or sheepskin with the fleece attached thereto; or
d. The pelt or skin of any animal that is preserved through taxidermy or for the purpose of taxidermy.
“Non-profit organization”: Any corporation that is organized under 26 U.S.C. Section 501(c)(3) that is created for charitable, religious, philanthropic, educational, or similar purposes.
“Retail transaction”: Any transfer of title of a fur product for consideration, made in the ordinary course of the seller’s business, to the purchaser for use other than resale or further processing or manufacturing.
“Taxidermy”: The practice of preparing and preserving the skin of an animal that is deceased and stuffing and mounting it in lifelike form.
“Ultimate consumer”: An individual who buys for their own use, or for the use of another, but not for resale or trade.
“Used fur product”: A fur product that has been worn or used by an ultimate consumer.
8.40.3 - Prohibitions. Notwithstanding any other provision of the bylaws, no person shall sell, offer for sale, display for sale, trade, or otherwise distribute for monetary or nonmonetary consideration a fur product in the Town of Brookline. For purposes of this section, the sale of a fur product shall be deemed to occur in the Town of Brookline if: (a) the buyer takes physical possession of the fur product in the Town; or (b) the seller is located in the Town.
8.40.4 - Exceptions. The prohibitions set forth in Section 8.40.3 of this Article do not apply to the sale, offer for sale, displaying for sale, trade, or distribution of:
a. A used fur product by an individual (excluding a retail transaction), non-profit organization, or second-hand store, including a pawn shop;
b. A fur product required for use in the practice of a religion;
c. A fur product used for traditional tribal, cultural, or spiritual purposes by a member of a federally recognized or state recognized Native American tribe; or
d. A fur product where the activity is expressly authorized by federal or state law.
8.40.5 – Penalty. Any person violating this bylaw shall be liable to the Town in the amount of $300. Each fur product and every day upon which any such violation shall occur shall constitute a separate offense.
8.40.6 – Severability. If any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance shall be declared invalid for any reason whatsoever, such decision shall not affect the remaining portions of this Ordinance which shall continue in full force and effect, and to this end the provisions of this Ordinance are hereby declared to be severable.
8.40.7 – Effective date. This bylaw shall become effective upon satisfaction of the requirements for Attorney General approval and for posting or publication provided in M.G.L. c. 40 § 32, and no earlier than April 1, 2022.
Or act on anything related thereto.
Petitioners’ Explanation: This article would make it unlawful to sell new fur products, such as clothing and home accessories, in our town. The bylaw, which includes a phase-in period, would not prohibit the possession of fur products, nor the purchase of fur products outside of Brookline. It does not apply to leather/cowhide, shearling, fur used for religious purposes, fur used for tribal, spiritual, or cultural purposes by members of a Native American tribe, second-hand fur, or the gifting of fur products. The purpose of this article is to address the environmental, humane, and health concerns caused by fur production.
The fur industry is extremely cruel to animals, and completely unnecessary. The vast majority of fur sold in America comes from fur farms, where animals spend their entire lives in small cages, unable to engage in behaviors natural to their species. When it is time for them to be slaughtered, fur farmers will often use the cheapest methods of killing available, including: electrichutin, gas, poison, and suffocation. While it might once have been necessary to wear fur in order to stay warm, it is no longer. In 2021, there are so many cheaper alternatives available, that we can’t justify killing animals for their fur.
In addition to the animal cruelty, the fur industry takes a great toll on the environment. It takes up land. Lots of food and water is required to feed the animals being raised for their fur. In addition to that, toxic chemicals such as chromium and formaldehyde are used to preserve the fur and prevent it from biodegrading. Waste runoff from fur farms can often end up in waterways or in natural habitats. With so many eco-friendly alternatives, we cannot justify the harm the fur industry does to the environment.
Fur farming also poses a public health risk. Animals on fur farms are kept so close together, that fur farms are breeding grounds, and transmission vectors for dangerous zoonotic diseases including SARS coronaviruses. Covid-19 outbreaks, which transmitted back to humans, occurred on multiple fur farms across Europe and the United States, resulting in the culling of tens of millions of mink. With so many alternatives that do not pose a public health threat, we cannot justify the public health threat that fur farming poses.
The towns of Weston and Wellesley, Massachusetts, have both already passed almost identical bylaws. They use very similar wording, with some minor differences, mostly to accommodate the town in which they are brought forth. This language has already been approved by the Massachusetts Attorney General after it was passed in Wellesley.