When you go to a restaurant and order a steak, you’re often asked how you’d like it cooked. But what if the waiter changed your order based upon the waiter's preference and then served that steak you?

That is exactly what the sponsors of HB 1034 and SB 5161 propose to do to fur farmers in Washington state. Not only do sponsors of the bill want to change how fur farmers make a living; the sponsors want to outlaw them.

Washington state has historically boasted a thriving fur production and trade. In fact, the Seattle Fur Exchange was established in 1898 as a bartering house before becoming one of the foremost fur auction sites in the country. Today, it is known as American Legend Auctions, and works in conjunction with its partner business – American Legend Cooperative – to provide ethically raised and harvested mink to the global market.

The bill notes mink production in our state declined to less than 1 percent of total production in 2019 and claims there are “no federal or state humane slaughter laws that regulate the industry.”

A small change to state regulations could govern humane slaughter of mink simply by classifying farmed mink as "livestock" rather than “personal property.” Additionally, Fur Commission USA follows humane slaughter guides set by the American Veterinary Medical Association for the most humane way to harvest the animals for their fur.

The proposed bills aren’t really about animal welfare or humane harvesting methods (we already have those). The proposed bills are about convicting fur farmers of a misdemeanor crime for doing what they love and desiring to continue doing it.

Not everyone wants to own or wear fur and that is okay. What is not okay is criminalizing farmers based upon the personal preferences of the bill sponsors. Mink farmers, like any other small, struggling business, deserve the dignity of pursuing their profession when they see fit; not being forced out of it by potential jail time.

The responsibility of our lawmakers is to help, or at least allow, all Washingtonians to make an honest living. Fur farmers have been doing that for more than 100 years and the proposed bills would criminalize that pursuit. 

If this is the route public policy is going to take, we will the worse for it. But, if we do indeed go down this path as a state, are there any takers on a bill to ban steaks served well-done?