SAO PAOLO, 30 JUNE 2015 – This week mayor Fernando Haddad signed a historic law that bans the import and sales of fur products in Brazilian biggest city São Paolo. The legislation, proposed by councillor Laércio Benko and approved unanimously by the City Council in May, is meant to ban animal products of extreme cruelty. Besides fur, the law also prohibits the production and sales of foie gras – duck or goose liver which production involves the controversial force-feeding. The law will be in effect in 45 days.

In November last year, the city of São Paolo signed a law to ban fur farming. Animals bred for the fashion industry are highly stressed, mistreated and “kept in cages that are so small they cannot even move properly. The cruelty of fur farming makes fashion that contains animal fur immoral and unjustifiable” the law states. ” The law aimed to protect animals whose fur is used for coats and other fashion accessories, including rabbits, foxes, mink, badgers, seals, coyotes, squirrels and chinchillas. According to the state government, Brazil was one of the biggest chinchilla producers in the world, after Argentina. By banning out the import and sales of fur on top of that, São Paolo has made another monumental stand against extreme animal suffering.