Proposed fur ban will appear on Denver’s November ballot

DENVER ( KDVR ) — Selling new fur items in Denver could be a thing of the past if residents vote in favor of banning the sale of new fur items in the city and county during the November election.

Colorado voters should get ballots in the mail next month, and FOX31 is working through the ballot questions, this time scrutinizing the question about the sale of fur in Denver. Some small businesses said the measure could put them out of business.

Coleen Orr, owner of Cowboy Up Hatters , has been making and selling hats for decades.

“I located and moved to Denver in 1996. I am a custom hat maker, starting from the base blank of a felt hat and making custom orders to fit any shape, style, size of felt hat,” Orr said.
“Anybody that really is a hat-wearer or has worn a lower quality really has an appreciation for the higher quality. Because you’ll go through a wool hat that will break down in a year or so, where a rabbit or beaver fur hat can be scrubbed and dry cleaned in solvent time and time again.”

There’s a measure on Denver’s 2024 ballot that Orr is concerned about — Initiated Ordinance 308.

“I am nervous. I make and sell hats all over Colorado, all over the United States and the world. And if they ban the sale of fur, even just starting Denver, I don’t know what I would do or where I would go,” Orr said.

The ballot question proposes a ban on the sale of new fur items. While some products would be exempted, like leather, sheepskin and wool, as well as secondhand fur items, the ban would apply to beaver fur.

“Very few cowboy hats actually use fur. It’s only the elite ones that ultra-rich people buy. The vast majority of cowboy hats do not use fur,” said Natalie Fulton, Pro-Animal Future spokesperson. Many high and low-end cowboy hats use fur or a mixture of fur with other materials.

Pro-Animal Future is bringing the initiative to the ballot. Fulton believes voters will side with the group.

“The public is very much on our side against fur. Many people think fur is already banned in Denver and they are surprised to learn that it is not,” Fulton said.

The group bringing this measure to the ballot is also bringing the slaughterhouse ban proposal to Denver’s ballot. If this measure passes, it would take effect in July of next year.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.