From an Associate Press account, selling or making
products with dog or cat fur is now a federal crime under a bill signed
into law by President Clinton.
Under the new law, selling, making or transporting
clothing, toys or other items made with the fur or skins of dogs and
cats could bring a maximum $25,000 fine or up to a year in prison.
"This legislation sends a strong message to importers
and retailers that sales of dog and cat fur will not be tolerated in the
United States,'' said Wayne Pacelle, senior vice president of Humane
Society of the United States.
Clinton signed the bill that was introduced last year in
Congress by Sen. William V. Roth, R-Del. and Rep. Jerry Kleczka, D-Wis.
There is no evidence that pets are being killed in the
United States for their fur, but DNA tests on furs have confirmed that
products like gloves, fur linings and insoles for shoes and boots made
with dog or cat hair have been sold in this country, the Humane Society
said.
An estimated 2 million dogs and cats are killed each
year - often in inhumane ways - primarily in China and other Asian
countries for the international fur trade.
Buyers of clothing often are unaware that their
purchases include dog and cat hair because they are intentionally
mislabeled with exotic "fantasy names'' - such as Asian jackal, sobaki,
wildcat, goyangi and katzenfelle - to make them more attractive to
American consumers, said Richard Swain Jr., the society's vice president
for investigative services.
Humane Society investigators also discovered that dog
and cat fur sometimes is dyed and processed to resemble fur from other
animals.
The law would require that all fur or fur-lined products
be labeled accurately, regardless of their cost.
The bill number is H.R. 4868.
Humane Society of the United States: http://www.hsus.org
For bill text: http://thomas.loc.gov
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