Denver voters are about to decide if fur and slaughterhouses are welcome in their city.
On the Nov. 5 ballot, Denver residents will vote on two separate animal-focused measures: Initiated Ordinance 308 — which would ban the selling of fur in Denver — and Initiated Ordinance 309 — which would prohibit slaughterhouses from operating within city limits.
Millions of foxes, minks, rabbits, and other animals are killed for their fur every year — after a life of pain and suffering in tiny, barren, wire cages on fur farms. Lady Freethinker’s undercover investigation into fur farms in China exposed how animals in the inhumane industry may even be skinned alive. If a fur ban passes, Denver will join 16 other cities who have already enacted legislation banning the cruelty — including their fellow Coloradans in Boulder who voted to ban the selling of fur in 2021.
Banning fur would send the message that the pain and death inflicted on animals for fashion is inexcusable.
Denverites also have the opportunity to banish from their city the largest lamb slaughterhouse in the nation — and prevent any future slaughterhouses from moving in.
The fear and agony animals face in slaughterhouses is immeasurable. Lambs at Denver’s slaughterhouse have allegedly been kicked, thrown, slammed to the floor, dragged up ramps by their legs, and suffered prolonged deaths even after their throats had been slit, as reported by Pro-Animal Future.
A former lamb slaughterhouse employee is among the Denverites urging voters to ban the cruelty with an opinion piece titled “I worked at a slaughterhouse in Denver. I’m asking you to ban them.”
“Floors coated in blood,” Jose Huizar writes. “Cries of pain. A stench of death that lingers long after your shift… The systematic cruelty I witnessed all those years ago should shock the conscience of every voter.” Huizar describes the fear he saw in lambs’ eyes which continues to haunt him.
Lambs, foxes, and other animals deserve better than to spend their lives in misery only to suffer agonizing deaths at human hands. With fur and slaughterhouses on the ballot, Denver voters have a real opportunity to turn their compassion for animals into law by passing Initiated Ordinances 308 and 309.
Lady Freethinker encourages everyone to make their voices heard by voting for a more humane future for animals this November.
