Since January 1, 2023, the California fur ban has prohibited the sale, trade, manufacture, and distribution of new fur products anywhere in the state. Owning or wearing fur is still legal. Selling, trading, or even giving away a new fur item is not, and repeat violators face civil penalties of up to $1,000 per item under California Fish and Game Code Section 2023.
What Counts as Fur Under the Law
The statute defines fur as any animal skin or part of a skin with hair, fleece, or fur fibers still attached, whether raw or processed. A fur product is any article of clothing, body covering, or fashion accessory made in whole or in part from fur. The reach is wide: coats, stoles, handbags, shoes, slippers, hats, earmuffs, scarves, gloves, jewelry, keychains, toys, trinkets, and home accessories and décor.1California Legislative Information. Bill Text – AB-44 Fur Products: Prohibition
What Is Not Fur
Several materials fall outside the definition even though they carry hair. Cowhide, deerskin, sheepskin, and goatskin are all excluded, so standard leather goods and shearling products are unaffected.2California Legislative Information. Today’s Law As Amended – AB-44 Fur Products: Prohibition Taxidermy is also carved out; any pelt or skin preserved through taxidermy is exempt.3California Legislative Information. Compare Versions – AB-44 Fur Products: Prohibition
What the Ban Prohibits
The law targets commerce, not the closet. You can still own, wear, and store fur you already have. What you cannot do is sell, offer for sale, display for sale, trade, or distribute a new fur product in California for any kind of consideration, whether monetary or not.4California Legislative Information. California Fish and Game Code 2023 That last phrase matters. Handing out a new fur product as a promotional item or a gift with purchase qualifies as distributing it for nonmonetary consideration.
Manufacturing fur products in California for sale is separately prohibited.4California Legislative Information. California Fish and Game Code 2023 The ban covers brick-and-mortar retail and online transactions alike, so listing a new fur product on an e-commerce platform and shipping it to a California buyer falls inside the prohibition.
Exceptions to the Ban
The statute leaves four categories of fur products lawful to sell or trade in California:
- Used fur products, sold through thrift stores, consignment shops, pawnshops, estate sales, or any other channel. The product must genuinely be secondhand.
- Fur products used for religious purposes.
- Fur products used for traditional tribal, cultural, or spiritual purposes by a member of a federally recognized Native American tribe, or by a member of a nonfederally recognized California Native American tribe listed on the state’s Tribal Consultation List.
- Any activity expressly authorized by federal law.
All four exceptions come directly from the statute.4California Legislative Information. California Fish and Game Code 2023 The used fur exception is the one most consumers encounter. Selling an inherited mink coat at a consignment shop is legal. Buying a brand-new mink coat from an online retailer that ships to California is not.
Penalties
Civil penalties escalate over three tiers based on how many violations a seller accumulates within a one-year window:
- First violation: up to $500.
- Second violation within one year: up to $750.
- Third or subsequent violation within one year: up to $1,000.
These amounts are per item. Each individual fur product that violates the ban counts as a separate violation.4California Legislative Information. California Fish and Game Code 2023 A boutique caught selling ten new fur hats could face up to $5,000 in fines on a first offense, and up to $10,000 with two prior violations that year. That per-item math is where the real financial risk sits for retailers carrying inventory.
Recordkeeping for Exempt Sales
If you sell or trade used fur or fur that qualifies under the religious or tribal exceptions, you must keep a record of each transaction for at least one year.4California Legislative Information. California Fish and Game Code 2023 The statute does not prescribe a format, but at minimum you need documentation showing that the sale or trade occurred and that the product was exempt.
Secondhand dealers who already report purchases or receipts of used fur under Business and Professions Code Section 21628 automatically satisfy the recordkeeping requirement.5LegiScan. Bill Text: CA AB44 2019-2020 Regular Session Chaptered Pawnshops and resale dealers typically log those transactions as part of their licensing. If you run a consignment shop that handles fur, confirm your existing reporting practices cover the requirement.
Federal Labeling Rules Still Apply
California’s ban does not replace federal labeling law. Businesses selling faux fur or any product containing real fur remain subject to the federal Fur Products Labeling Act, which requires that all fur be labeled with the correct animal name from the official Fur Products Name Guide, disclosure of any artificial coloring or treatment, and the country of origin for imported furs.6eCFR. Title 16, Part 301 – Rules and Regulations Under Fur Products Labeling Act Mislabeling a real fur product as faux can create liability under both the federal act and California’s ban at the same time.
How to Report a Violation
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife enforces the ban. If you spot a retailer selling what appears to be new fur in California, you can report it through Cal-TIP, the California Turn In Poachers and Polluters hotline, at 1-888-334-2258, or file an online report through the department’s website.7California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Contact CDFW Non-urgent concerns can also go to a local CDFW law enforcement officer.