Paul Johnson, the President of the Plymouth County League of Sportsmen, joined WATD in studio discuss opposition to Plymouth Town Meeting Article 20, which is calling for the ban of fur products in town.
He says the group represents about 15,000 members from Braintree to Monument Beach on Cape Cod.
Johnson said they are against the measure, stating the bylaw is “divisive.”
“This isn’t about animal cruelty in Plymouth, or Massachusetts. If it were, they would use examples in their presentations,” said Johnson. “All of their examples are international. They’re from Polish, Finnish, and Chinese fur farms. The alleged abuse that they show, none of them are from the United States. There’s a reason for that because that kind of abuse simply doesn’t happen here.”
The Plymouth Town Meeting is set for April 2nd.
Listen to the interview with WATD’s Christine James here:
Article 20 is sponsored by Lauren Nessralla, a recent graduate of Plymouth North High School and a current student at UMass Boston.
WATD’s Bobbi Clark interviewed Nessralla about the article, listen to the story published on February 14, 2022 here:
Lauren Nessralla calls Article 20 a preventative measure.
“I say preventative measure, because to date there are no known fur products sold in this town that actually would be affected by the bylaw, so now if we enact this, it would come at little to no costs to the town.”
Nessralla says that such a measure is crucial to the well-being of animals:
“Every year over a hundred million animals are killed for their fur,” said Nessralla. “These animals include raccoon, dogs, chinchillas, mink, foxes, even bunnies. The ways these animals are killed is barbaric because these farmers use the cheapest methods possible.”
And the animals that are treated this way…
“…they are then turned into things that are unnecessary like fur-trim lining on hoods of coats, or home décor,” said Nessralla. “And the immorality of subjecting animals to this torture is something that Plymouth is better than.”
Nessralla notes that our history reflect this…
“…with our ban on puppy mills, our ban on using animals in circuses, and soon to have a ban on fur, I think Plymouth residents are really ready to see this change.”
Both the Select Board and FinCom approved Article 20 and it advances to April 2nd Town Meeting.
