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| Why should mink farmers care about a bill over the sale of wild animal products in California?
Just like producers of 'roo, 'gator and croc products, mink farmers produce an organic raw material for clothing, in competition with synthetic fibers made from oil. Although oil-based synthetics are cheaper, in the short term, than real leathers and furs, the long-term costs of synthetics are staggering. Interestingly, when the State of California tallied up just some of these costs, it outlawed drilling for oil off its coastline. But now some State representatives, many from urban areas, have apparently lost the plot. Having banned oil drilling, they don't seem to support the sustainable use of animals for food and clothing either! California Senate Bill 233 is a case study in the debate over holistic resource management – covering wild and farmed animals alike and, yes, oil too – in which trade is a key to maintaining the health of wildlife and the ecosystems in which they live. As members of the international fur trade, we must shoulder part of the responsibility for explaining the fundamentals of sustainable use, not least to our elected leaders. So when California reps are arguing 'roos, 'gators and crocs, do not ask for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee. |
California's Outdated Wildlife Policy
Bill Proposes Lifting Trade Ban on 'Roos, 'Gators and Crocs
By Simon Ward and Teresa Platt
A NEW COALITION of supporters of sustainable use is being built in California and they need you!
Californian State Senator Dennis Hollingsworth (R-Riverside) was surprised to learn that trade in products made from kangaroos, alligators and crocodiles has been banned in California for over 30 years!
Back in the early '70s, before the US Endangered Species Act (ESA) or the international treaty, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), were even written, a group of California lawmakers drew up a lengthy list of species the parts and products of which were to be blacklisted. Ostensibly at least, their motivation was conservation, but the science they used – if any – in drawing up their list must have been woefully lacking, even by the standards of the day.
In particular, one must ask how kangaroos, alligators and crocodiles ever made it on to the blacklist. And how did they stay on the blacklist, given that neither the ESA nor CITES finds it necessary to ban trade in these species? Kangaroos, alligators, and crocodiles are important resources for the food and clothing industries, with a flourishing, well-regulated trade in their products both within the US and internationally.
Obviously, the California law is overdue for rewriting and updating. But as anyone involved with animals knows, rewriting any law relating to animals in America today is guaranteed to provoke howls of protest from animal rights groups out to raise money on the issue.
And that's exactly what happened when Sen. Hollingsworth introduced SB233 to bring California law in line with the ESA and CITES.
But supporters of sustainable use were vocal too, with even the Governor of Louisiana and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries backing an update in Californian law.
As Sen. Hollingsworth explained, the aim was not to scrap the law altogether, but simply "to change the law to allow the importation of products made from abundant populations of kangaroos, crocodiles and alligators that are in compliance with state and federal laws and agreements."
Yet even this reasonable proposal was too much for the animal rights lobby. The loudest howls came from the US arm of Britain's Vegetarians International Voice for Animals (Viva!), which raises most of its funds by campaigning against the use of kangaroos. Other animal rights corporations also weighed in on cue: the Humane Society of the United States, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Fund for Animals.
But a groundswell of support has started to build, and the first round before the California Senate's Natural Resources and Wildlife Committee on May 27 went quite well, considering a wild 'roo expert could not be found in time. The Australian government has committed to supplying expert testimony for the next hearing.
Dr. Perran Ross, executive director of the World Conservation Union's Crocodile Specialists Group, Dr. Ruth Elsey of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and the California Chamber of Commerce, testified on May 27 and, in spite of the committee chair's strong animal rights views, the bill failed by only two votes and the committee voted unanimously to reconsider it in the future.
Sen. Hollingsworth, who has a farming background and understands this issue well, stated, "The animal rights extremists are digging in their heels and fighting Senate Bill 233. Fortunately their only arguments are based on myths and emotions. It must be our role to fight back with facts and calm reasoning. The truth is on our side. Banning products made from kangaroos, crocodiles, and alligators makes as much sense as banning leather. It is important that we get that point across. We have the statistics and the numbers to show that existing law is economically destructive and unnecessary."
If ever a law were begging to be changed, this is it! Visit www.maninnature.com and log in your support of sustainable use and scientific management of wild animals. At last count, the list of supporters of SB233 included time: Alligator Trading Company, Inc., Dade City, Florida; American Alligator Cycle of Protection, Inc.; Crocodile Specialist Group, World Conservation Union; Alligator Program Manager, and the Fur and Alligator Advisory Council, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, State of Louisiana; Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, State of Louisiana; Fur Commission USA; Governor M.J. "Mike" Foster, Jr., State of Louisiana; IWMC World Conservation Trust; Louisiana Trapper and Alligator Hunter Association; National Animal Interest Alliance; National Trappers Association, Inc.; and Orleans Audubon Society.
Show that you support keeping animal populations healthy and open space wild, and that you understand the important role regulated trade can play in achieving sustainable use! And hop to it! YES on SB233!
For further information contact: Teresa Platt, Executive Director, Fur Commission USA, PMB 506, 826 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA 92118-2698 USA, (619) 575-0139, (619) 575-5578/fax, furfarmers@aol.com, www.furcommission.com.
To take a cyber-tour of a fur farm, visit Fur Commission USA's Fur on Film at http://www.furcommission.com/video/index.htm