Anti-Fur Legislation
Council of Europe European Union fur import ban USA State trap bans, US Congress National legislation
CITESKnown as CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, entered into force on 1 July 1975 and now has a membership of 143 countries. These countries act by banning commercial international trade in an agreed list of endangered species and by regulating and monitoring trade in others that might become endangered.The Convention prohibits the trade in endangered species and regulates the trade in other species. It is monitored by Traffic and implementation is reviewed on an annual basis at Cites meetings. Cites is concerned with the conservation of species and does not provide for the prevention of cruelty to animals. See http://www.wcmc.org.uk:80/CITES/english/index.html
Council of EuropeThe Council of Europe, which includes 40 European countries as members, has concluded a number of conventions that affect animals. One of them is the European Convention for the Protection of Animals kept for Farming Purposes. 23 Member states and the EU have ratified this convention (Feb 1998). More detailed recommendations are concluded under this convention, including a recommendation on fur animals which is being finalised at the time of writing. This will be a detailed measure including provisions on areas such as stockmanship, inspection, housing and equipment, management, breeding, killing, and some special species-specific provisions and information on biological characteristics of different species of fur-bearing animals.See http://www.coe.fr/eng/legaltxt/87e.htm.
European Union Fur Import BanOn 4 November, 1991 the European Union adopted Council Regulation No. 3254/91. This Regulation prohibited the use of leghold traps in the 15 nations of the Union and banned the imports of pelts and manufactured goods from 13 wild species originating from countries that had not banned leghold traps. In January 1996 the leghold trap ban took effect, but the fur import ban was postponed due to heavy lobbying by Canada, the US and Russia. In December 1997 an agreement was signed between the countries that allowed for continued import of furs from animals caught with leghold traps for another six years with a vague requirement to develop more humane trapping standards.
USA State Trap Ban, US CongressThrough a ballot question, voters in Massachusetts (eastern US) banned the use of "cruel traps" in 1996. Similar laws have been enacted in Arizona and Colorado. Currently a ballot initiative is underway in California. California's measure would ban not only the use of body-gripping traps in recreational or commercial trapping but also the use of the indiscriminate and deadly poisons Compound 1080 and sodium cyanide. Protect Pets and Wildlife (ProPAW) had collected 700,000 signatures in support of this ban by the end of January 1998. (http://www.volunteerinfo.org/propaw/index.htm) A federal bill has been proposed in both the United States House of Representatives ( ftp://ftp.loc.gov/pub/thomas/c105/h1176.ih.txt) and the Senate ( ftp://ftp.loc.gov/pub/thomas/c105/s1557.is.txt) which prohibits the use of leghold traps. These bills have not collected enough signatures in order to proceed in the legislative process.
National LegislationDenmarkDenmark is by far the biggest mink producer in the world with 9 million out of the 24 million mink killed worldwide. A committee of the Danish Ministry of Agriculture has declared that fox farming is ethically unacceptable.
Austria
Netherlands
Norway
Sweden In December 1995, the government amended the Animal Protection Ordinance. It now states that foxes must be kept in such a way that they can be active, dig, and socialise with other foxes. Existing farms have to comply with the new regulations before the end of 2000. In 1993 there were about 200 fur farms, most of them mink farms, left in Sweden, compared to 700 fur farms in 1987. Swedish mink production has decreased 40%, and fox production 65% since 1988. Only approved traps may be used for trapping. Traps are only approved if they cause no, or very slight injury, or, for killing traps, if they render animals unconscious almost immediately. Leg-hold traps have been banned since 1967. Traps must be inspected at least once a day, for some species twice a day. There is no commercial trapping in Sweden. All trapping is done for animal damage control or for hobby purposes. Switzerland United Kingdom
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