California council becomes first to ban the sale of fur

 "The five-member City Council of the tiny municipality wedged between Beverly Hills and Hollywood voted 3-to-1 with one abstention to endorse the ban, which will take effect in 2013, said City Councilman John Heilman.
The ban was tentatively adopted by the council on Sept. 20 and had been expected to win easy enactment two weeks later. But it ran into stiff opposition from the local Chamber of Commerce and the fur industry, whose main trade group, the Fur Information Council of America, is based in West Hollywood.
Ultimately, the city's famously left-leaning political establishment embraced the ban, won over by supporters' arguments that furs are produced from animals that are inhumanely killed for their pelts.
The latest vote came shortly before 1am, capping a contentious debate.
"We made history. We're the first place in the world, I believe, certainly the country, to take that step and ban fur," said Ed Buck, an organiser of the local group Fur Free WeHo."
via Telegraph / read more