Urge Congress to Pass Truth in Fur Labeling Act
Bill would prevent illegal sale of cat and dog fur in U.S.

Every year in China, millions of cats and dogs are killed for their fur which is then exported to countries around the world, including the U.S. While it is strictly illegal to sell cat and dog fur in America, there is a loophole that makes the law almost impossible to enforce. That is, clothing stores are allowed to sell fur garments without specifying whether the fur is real or synthetic, the species of animal the fur comes from or the country where the garments were made as long as the fur's value is $150 or less. This means that as many as 500,000 or one in seven fur garments sold in the U.S. lack labels specifying this important information.

The Truth in Fur Labeling Act (H.R. 4904), sponsored by Representatives Mike Ferguson (R-NJ) and Jim Moran (D-VA), would uphold the law and protect consumers' right to know what they are buying by requiring all fur garments to include information about their origins, regardless of price. Accurate labels would allow consumers to easily identify and choose faux fur over real fur garments made from dead animals. It's therefore no wonder that the fur industry opposed such labeling when the U.S. banned dog and cat fur products in 2000. Through intense lobbying, the industry managed to kill a proposed labeling requirement then, and it now stands firmly against the current bill. 

Congress passed the original Fur Products Labeling Act over half a century ago, well before the technology to create realistic faux fur existed and before fur trim was widely used in fashion. Nowadays, a $500 coat containing $150 worth of fur can be sold without any information about whether the fur came from animals and if so what kind. And even though it costs only $150 or less, a real fur garment is likely to contain the pelts of multiple animals. A rabbit fur coat, for example, could be made from as many as 30 rabbits (each pelt being valued at approximately $5).

Today, fur-trimmed garments have become so popular that the industry expects the amount of fur used for trim to soon exceed that used to make full-length fur coats and jackets. These marketplace realities make complete fur garment labeling more crucial than ever. Given that modern consumers have legitimate concerns about quality and animal welfare, the law desperately needs to be updated for the 21st century. 

In October, the European Parliament took an important step toward outlawing the importation and sale of dog and cat fur by voting to amend an agricultural bill calling on the EU Commission to initiate a ban. The U.S. already has a ban on the sale of dog and cat fur in place, but we need to close the loophole that makes the law unenforceable. All fur products should be labeled, regardless of how much they are worth.

Please “Take Action” to urge your Representative to support and co-sponsor H.R. 4904, the Truth in Fur Labeling Act. Please also contact your Representative by phone or postal mail. You can get contact information for your elected officials by clicking here and entering your zip code.