Thanks to your support, three bills to protect California’s wildlife from cruel and senseless killing have passed several hurdles in the legislature! AB 273, the bill to ban all commercial and recreational trapping of fur-bearing and nongame mammals (including coyotes and foxes), has passed the full Assembly and is now in the Senate Natural Resources & Water Committee for consideration. And after moving through several committees, the bills to prohibit the selling, giving or manufacturing of new fur products (AB 44) and the trophy hunting of bobcats (AB 1254) are on the Assembly floor for a vote.
Your voice is needed once again to help pass these important bills, which would set a standard for the humane treatment of wildlife throughout the nation.
Please act today—urge lawmakers to vote YES on AB 273, AB 44, and AB 1254.
While AB 44 and AB 1254 are both on the Assembly floor, AB 273 is in a Senate committee – so we need you to take a few different actions.
Contact your Assembly member in support of AB 44 (fur trade) and AB 1254 (bobcat trophy hunting).
Please go here to find contact information for the Assemblymember who represents your district.
First, send a polite email or message to your Assemblymember asking him or her to vote YES on AB 44 to end the fur trade and YES on AB 1254 to abolish bobcat trophy hunting. Talking points below.
Next, follow up with a brief phone call.
If your Senator sits on the Committee, contact him/her in support of AB 273 (fur trapping).
Below is a list Senators who sit on the Senate Natural Resources & Water Committee. Go here to see if one of these Senator represents your district. If so, please write and call asking him or her to vote YES on AB 273 to end cruel and senseless fur trapping of fur-bearing and nongame mammals. Talking points below.
Senator Henry I. Stern: (916) 651-4027; submit written comments here
Senator Brian W. Jones: (916) 651-4038; submit written comments here
Senator Benjamin Allen: (916) 651-4026; submit written comments here
Senator Andreas Borgeas: (916) 651-4008; submit written comments here
Senator Anna M. Caballero: (916) 651-4012; submit written comments here
Senator Robert M. Hertzberg: (916) 651-4018; submit written comments here
Senator Ben Hueso: (916) 651-4040; submit written comments here
Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson: (916) 651-4019; submit written comments here
Senator Bill Monning: (916) 651-4017
Talking Points
AB 273 (banning the trapping of fur-bearing and nongame mammals):
- Trapping is cruel, antiquated and unnecessary. Trapped animals – including coyotes and foxes – may linger for up to 24 hours in the trap before they are clubbed or strangled to death.
- It costs far more to the state to manage and enforce fur trapping than it receives in money brought in by selling trapping licenses, meaning taxpayers subsidize the fur industry!
- Trapping is counterproductive to sound wildlife management.
- California’s wildlife is worth more alive than dead – wildlife watching produces nearly $4 billion in revenue for California’s economy.
AB 44 (banning the fur trade):
- AB 44 would remove the financial incentives to trap animals for their fur.
- On fur farms, animals live in tiny cages, causing tremendous stress that may lead to self-mutilation and infections. The animals are then anally electrocuted, strangled or gassed, and may even be skinned alive.
- AB 44 provides reasonable exemptions for used fur items and fur items used for religious purposes.
AB 1254 (Bobcat Trophy Hunting Ban):
- Californians do not support trophy hunting of the state’s native carnivores. We have already banned the hunting of mountain lions, abolished the use of hounds to hunt bobcats, and prohibited bobcat trapping in the state.
- Bobcats are not killed for human sustenance and are solely hunted for sport and trophies.
- Bobcats are a keystone species that play an important role in the maintenance of healthy ecosystems.
Please join us on June 11 in Sacramento!
The Senate Natural Resources & Water Committee is holding a hearing on AB 273 (fur trapping). You can simply attend and say, “I support AB 273.”
What: Hearing on AB 273 by Senate Natural Resources & Water Committee
Where: State Capitol, 10th and L Streets, Room 112, Sacramento, CA
Date: Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Time: 9:30 AM (we recommend arriving by 9:00 AM)
Thank you for speaking up for California’s wildlife!
Camilla H. Fox
Founder & Executive Director