Historic Victory for Animals: Three Wide-Ranging Bills Are Now State Law

For Immediate Release:
October 12, 2019

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Sacramento, Calif. –

Three PETA-backed bills have become law: Senate Bill 313, the Circus Cruelty Prevention Act; Assembly Bill 44, the ban on fur sales; and AB 1260, the ban on certain exotic-skins imports and sales.

Please find a statement below from PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman:

Today is a historic day for animals in California, including those who have been whipped into performing in circuses, or skinned alive for their fur or skin. PETA is proud to have worked with compassionate legislators to push these lifesaving laws forward and looks to other states to follow California’s progressive lead.

Please also find a statement from Judie Mancuso, the founder and president of Social Compassion in Legislation (SCIL), which sponsored SB 313, and AB 1260:

Californians’ dream of rejecting cruelty to animals in circuses, and the exotic-skins industries has come true. Social Compassion in Legislation is cheering our compassionate governor and lawmakers for slamming the door on these abusive industries and showing the rest of the country what a kinder future looks like.

Please find a statement from Hueso:

This is a historic day for California, as we join the growing number of states and localities stepping up to implement similar bans on cruel circuses. I’m very proud of the work we’ve accomplished to close the curtain on circuses in our state that exploit these beautiful creatures.

PETA also championed the bill banning fur sales and the SCIL-sponsored exotic-skins bill as they made their way through the legislature. Their passage has made California the first state in the country to ban the sale of skins and other body parts from certain lizards, caimans, and hippopotamuses as well as the sale and manufacture of fur, thereby sparing countless animals the agony of being raised on filthy farms, beaten, electrocuted, skinned alive, and otherwise abused and killed for fashion.

PETA’s motto reads, “Animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way,” and the group opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. SCIL is a vanguard voice championing landmark legislation for animals. More information is available at PETA.org and SocialCompassioninLegislation.org.