OPINION:
As someone who lives in California and is thrilled that state lawmakers are taking steps to ban fur, foie gras and other cruelly produced items, I’d like to respond to “California considers banning fur” (Web, March 4).
Author Rick Berman is the executive director of a front group that opposes the good work being done by health experts, scientists, animal-rights advocates, environmentalists and others, so I encourage readers to take anything he says with a grain of salt.
Exposes of fur farms around the world have documented minks being gassed en masse, chinchillas and foxes being electrocuted, rabbits screaming in pain as they are shocked with electrical devices, and more — and not surprisingly, the momentum against fur is growing. Hundreds of major designers and retailers, including luxury brands Gucci, Versace, Chanel and Armani, have stopped using fur. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berkeley and West Hollywood have passed bans on new fur sales, and several countries have banned fur farms.
As PETA says, “Fur is dead.” This is true whether Mr. Berman and his spin machine like it or not.
REBECCA FENSON
San Francisco
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