UPDATE: On October 12, 2019, Governor Gavin
Newsom signed AB 44 and Governor Newsom stated in social media:
"I just signed #AB44 —
one of the strongest animal rights laws in US History —
making California the first state in the nation to ban new fur
sales." The ban goes into effect in 2023 and fur retailers
have more than two years to sell any furs they still have in their
inventory. After the law goes into effect, manufacturers and
retailers will face fines of $500 to $1,000 for every violation of
the law.
Before the 1849 California Gold Rush, American, English and
Russian fur hunters were drawn to Spanish (and then Mexican)
California in a California Fur Rush, to exploit its enormous fur
resources. Before 1825, these Europeans were drawn to the northern
and central California coast to harvest southern sea otters and fur
seals, and then to the San Francisco Bay Area and
Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta to harvest beaver, river
otters, marten, fisher, mink, gray
