More than two dozen United States congressmen are sponsoring new proposed legislation that would ban the United States from importing racoon dog fur from Asia.
Although U.S. law prohibits sales of dog and cat fur products, under current law fur clothing valued at under $150 is exempt from carrying component labels.
But a bill introduced Feb. 7 by Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., would eliminate that loophole and outlaw the use of raccoon dog fur, plus require all fur products to be correctly labeled, regardless of retail value.
An additional 28 other congressmen have joined as co-sponsors of the bill, which is known as “The Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act.”
The proposed legislation is also supported by the Humane Society of the United States, which says that recent investigations have found fur from raccoon dogs on some brand-name clothing sold in this country, including in the Sean John, Calvin Klein, and Tommy Hilfiger clothing lines.
At a Feb. 7 Capitol Hill news conference announcing the bill, the Humane Society said it had recently tested 25 jackets bought at a variety of large U.S. department stores, and out of those, 24 were incorrectly labeled.
In many cases, tests showed the fur came from raccoon dogs, the HSUS says.