More than two dozen United States congressmen are sponsoring proposed legislation that would ban the United States from importing fur from cats, dogs and other animals.
Although U.S. law prohibits sales of cat and dog fur products, under current law, fur clothing valued at under $150 is not required to carry component labels.
But a bill introduced Feb. 7 by Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., would eliminate that loophole and require all fur products to be correctly labeled, regardless of value.
An additional 28 other congressmen have joined as co-sponsors of the bill, known as “The Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition
Enforcement Act.”
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), an animal rights organization that supports the legislation, claimed that its investigations since December have found fur from dogs in some brand-name clothing sold in this country, including in the Sean John, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger clothing lines.
At a Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday announcing the legislation, the Humane Society said it had recently tested 25 jackets bought at a variety of large U.S. department stores and out of those, 24 were incorrectly labeled.
In many cases, the HSUS says, tests showed the fur came from raccoon dogs, a wild canine in Asia that resembles a raccoon.