Fur Sales Ban (Ordinance #2022-17).PASSED TO A SECOND READING

(a) The City Council finds that animals that are slaughtered for their fur endure tremendous suffering. Animals raised on fur farms typically spend their entire lives in cramped and filthy cages. Fur farmers typically use the cheapest killing methods available, including suffocation, electrocution, gas and poison.

(b) The City Council finds that fur farms are reservoirs and transmission vectors for dangerous zoonotic diseases, including SARS coronaviruses, that threaten public health, including in the City of Cambridge. COVID-19 infections have been confirmed at fur farms in Europe and the United States, and scientific studies have linked mink, raccoon dogs, and foxes – the animals most commonly farmed for their fur – to a variety of coronaviruses.

(c) The City Council finds that the fur production process is energy intensive and has a significant environmental impact, including air and water pollution. Runoff from the fur production process contains high concentrations of phosphorus and nitrogen, which are the most common forms of water pollution in the United States. In addition, the tanning and dying processes used in fur production use toxic chemicals and heavy metals like chromium and formaldehyde.

(b) Considering the wide array of alternatives for fashion and apparel, the City Council finds that the demand for fur products does not justify the unnecessary killing and cruel treatment of animals, harm to the environment, and the public health risks to the people of the City of Cambridge caused by these practices.

(c) The City Council believes that eliminating the sale of fur products in the City of Cambridge will decrease demand for these cruel and environmentally harmful products and promote community awareness of animal welfare and, in turn, will foster a more humane environment in the City of Cambridge and enhance the reputation of the City.

6.24.020 - Definitions

The following definitions shall apply in this section:

(a) Fur shall mean any animal skin or part thereof with hair, fleece, or fur fibers attached thereto, either in its raw or processed state.

(b) Fur product shall mean 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:

(1) 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;

(2) Cowhide with the hair attached thereto;

(3) Deerskin with the hair attached thereto;

(4) Lambskin or sheepskin with the fleece attached thereto; or

(5) The pelt or skin of any animal that is preserved through taxidermy or for the purpose of taxidermy.

(c) Non-profit organization shall mean 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.

(d) Taxidermy shall mean the practice of preparing and preserving the skin of an animal that is deceased and stuffing and mounting it in lifelike form.

(e) Ultimate consumer shall mean an individual who buys a fur product for their own use, or for the use of another, but not for resale or trade.

(f) Used fur product shall mean a fur product that has been worn or used by an ultimate consumer.

6.24.030 – Prohibition

No person shall sell, offer for sale, display for sale, trade, or otherwise distribute for monetary or nonmonetary consideration a fur product within the City of Cambridge. For purposes of this section, the sale of a fur product shall be deemed to occur in the City of

Cambridge if:

(1) The buyer takes physical possession of the fur product in the city; or

(2) The seller is located in the city.

6.24.040 - Exemptions

This Chapter shall not apply to the sale, offer for sale, displaying for sale, trade, or distribution of:

(1) A used fur product by an individual (excluding a retail transaction), non-profit organization, or second-hand store, including a pawn shop;

(2) A fur product required for use in the practice of a religion;

(3) A fur product used for traditional tribal, cultural, or spiritual purposes by a member of a federally recognized Native American tribe; or

(4) A fur product where the activity is expressly authorized by federal or state law.

6.24.050 – Penalty

Any person who violates this Chapter shall be subject to a fine not exceeding three hundred dollars. As an alternative penalty, any person who violates this Chapter may be penalized by a noncriminal disposition as provided in General Laws Chapter 40, Section 21D. Each act of violation and every day upon which any such violation shall occur shall constitute a separate offense. Each fur product involved in a violation of this Chapter shall constitute a separate act of violation.

6.24.060 – Severability of Sections

It is declared to be the intention of the City Council that the sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and words of this Chapter are severable and if any word, clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this Chapter shall be declared unconstitutional or invalid by the judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality or invalidity shall not affect any of the remaining words, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections of this Chapter since the same would have been enacted by the city council without the incorporation in this code of any such unconstitutional or invalid word, clause, sentence, paragraph or section.

6.24.070 – Effective Date

This ordinance shall take effect following approval of the Attorney General and compliance with the provisions of G.L. c.40, § 32, and no earlier than January 1, 2023.