To the editor:

Kudos to Sen. Linda Ujifusa for cosponsoring the Trade in Farmed Animal Fur Products Act (S.25), which would prohibit the sale of new products made with fur sourced from fur farms (the factory farms of fashion).

The bill offers exemptions for items made from fur harvested through hunting and trapping. Notably, Rhode Island Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, which had opposed former versions of the bill, withdrew its opposition this year. The law also exempts sales of second-hand furs, as well as fur used for religious purposes, loose-hair products like fishing lures and paint brushes, and items made with leather, wool, mohair or cowhide. The Rhode Island House of Representatives passed its version of the bill (H.5447) on May 13.

The majority of fur farming occurs overseas, but there are still several of these facilities operating in the United States, off the radar and with little-to-no state or federal oversight. This January, Humane World for Animals (formerly the Humane Society of the United States) rescued hundreds of foxes, raccoons, wolf-dog hybrids, skunks, opossums and coyotes from a typical fur and urine farm in Cleveland, Ohio, where the animals were confined in cramped, filthy wire-bottom cages with minimal shelter from the heat and cold.

Many were emaciated, dehydrated, or suffering untreated injuries that included missing limbs. Several had died in their cages and their bodies were covered with snow. The survivors were destined for slaughter by drowning, clubbing, gassing or electrocution, until Humane World for Animals intervened. See www.humaneworld.org/en/ohio-fur-and-urine-farm-rescue.

While Rhode Island harbors no fur farms, it is time to close the markets for their cruelly derived pelts. Here’s hoping S.25 will ride the momentum of H.5447 out of committee and onto the Senate floor for a vote this year!

Christa Albrecht-Vegas
Portsmouth