Animal-rights legislation being considered by Pittsburgh City Council would ban fur sales, horse-drawn carriages and the French delicacy foie gras in the city.
The would-be ban on fur sales and manufacturing is needed because of the “tremendous suffering” that millions of animals face each year when they are killed for their fur, according to the legislation introduced this week.
Councilman Bruce Kraus, D-South Side, who sponsored or co-sponsored all of the related bills, acknowledged there’s not a large market in Pittsburgh for any of the items targeted, but he said the legislation is meant to be “preventive in nature because we don’t have anything on the books.”
The first council bill, sponsored by Kraus and Erika Strassburger, D-Squirrel Hill, would ban the manufacturing and sale of fur products in the city. It includes exceptions for used fur products and fur products that are used for religious, traditional tribal, cultural or spiritual purposes.
If approved, those violating the ban could face fines of up to $500 per violation.
Carl Herrmann, whose family has owned Carl Herrmann Furs in Downtown Pittsburgh for over a century, said he feels the proposed fur ban unfairly targets only one of many industries that rely on animal products. The ban does not extend to leather, down, fleece or other products that require butchering an animal.
“This is a direct attack on the animal fur industry,” Herrmann said. “What happened to freedom of choice? If you don’t like fur, don’t wear it.”
Herrmann said fur products constitute about 65% to 70% of his business, and a ban on such products would have a significant impact. He said he’s already seen a decline in the popularity of fur since some people began protesting against it decades ago.
Herrmann said he doesn’t believe arguments that the fur industry breeds animal cruelty. People who raise animals for fur, he said, are careful not to abuse animals or allow them to be malnourished or sick because that can have a negative impact on the quality of the fur. If the goal is to create the “finest product they can,” he said, people in the fur industry have to care for animals properly.
A second bill, sponsored by Kraus, would ban horse carriages. Kraus said it would build upon legislation passed in 2017 that restricts how people can handle wild and exotic animals in the city.
Kraus said he was inspired to push for the measure after interacting with a horse that was drawing a carriage in New Orleans.
“I looked him in the eyes and that horse was dead,” Kraus said. “I thought, what a horrible way to live your life, for your entertainment value.”
A third bill, co-sponsored by Kraus and Strassburger, would ban the sale of foie gras and force-fed animal products. Anyone seeking to sell foie gras — a French delicacy made from the enlarged liver of a goose or duck — would have to prove the animal was not force-fed.
The legislation said producing foie gras typically involves inserting a footlong metal rod or plastic tube down a bird’s throat and injecting unhealthy amounts of feed into the animal’s stomach. This continues until the animal’s liver is diseased and enlarged up to 10 times its normal size.
Violators of that ban would faces fines of up to $500 per violation.
Other areas already have enacted similar bans on fur products and foie gras. A statewide ban on the production and sale of fur products was approved in California in 2019 after several California cities enacted similar measures, and the state also has banned foie gras. New York City also banned foie gras, and some French cities have outlawed the delicacy. Bans on fur products are in place in Ann Arbor, Mich., Hallandale Beach, Fla., and several cities in Massachusetts.
The measures could be ready for a preliminary vote as early as next week and a final vote as soon as the following week.
