Chicago City Council votes against ordinance to ban new sales of fur

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Furriers will be sticking around Chicago after City Council voted against a fur ban Wednesday.

Many who opposed the ban said it would have impacted the city's Black community.

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"This is about closing businesses. This is about closing one of only three Black furriers in the entire United States," said 19th Ward Ald. Matt O'Shea, speaking at a rally opposing the ban.

Chicago City Council members voted Wednesday against banning new sales of fur in the city. It's something that would've directly impacted local businesses, like Black-owned Island Furs in Beverly.

"We've been in business for over 30 years, serving the community and doing our best to be apart of the economic growth of our city," Island Furs owner Gerard Brown said.

The ordinance was an effort to fight animal cruelty. Those in support of it said it would have helped the economy.

"The natural fur market has dropped by 40%... and advocates and researchers estimate that we are going to see the increase in market share for fur alternatives triple by 2030," 15th Ward Ald. Raymond Lopez said.

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"Synthetic furs are bad for the environment, and it's bad for humans," Andriana Furs owner Sohrab Tebyanian.

Located just down the street from Island Furs is Andriana Furs, who has over 100,000 clients in Chicago. Tebyanian said they would have likely had to close down.

"My partners, my employees, and all the people who are my partners, they all get hurt," Tebyanian said.

The proposed ordinance made exceptions for leather, cowhide and deerskin products, and for fur products used in religious and cultural practices.

Mike Brown with the Natural Fibers Alliance said other major cities like New York City and Pittsburgh have too tried to pass fur bans, but said Chicago took it too far.

"This is an extreme ordinance," Mike Brown said. "This doesn't make an exemption for sheepskin or lamb skin, which would be used to make ugg boots."

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"We have a society where we lost our sense of compassion and empathy for other living things," Ald. Lopez said.

Ultimately, the argument that the ban would erase an important piece of Black culture succeeded.

"Keep in mind... this city was founded by a Black man who's a fur trader," 28th Ward Ald. Jason Ervin said.