A New York state senator said Friday he wants to make it illegal to buy and sell items made with giraffe parts — a day after The Humane Society published a scathing report detailing how such sales have caused their population to dwindle.
Brad Hoylman (D-New York) said he was “sickened and shocked” to learn selling items made from giraffes is completely legal in New York and plans to introduce a bill criminalizing it next week.
“It’s the responsibility we have as New Yorkers to take action where a lot of this trade happens in our backyard, including it turns out a couple of blocks from my office,” Hoylman said after reading about a Midtown boutique in Friday’s Post that sells coats and shoes fashioned from giraffes for thousands of dollars.
“Giraffes are in as much peril as elephants, the population has declined 40% in the last 30 years with fewer than 100,000 remaining in Africa so we in New York City… need to take steps to protect these species.”
The Humane Society report detailed an undercover investigation into eight states, including New York, where 51 dealers were found hawking goods comprised of the gentle giant’s tan and brown skin and their winding tails. An intact face, including the eyebrows, was found on a pillow for sale in Florida.
Hoylman, whose two daughters inspired him to help wildlife, wants to make sure those types of sales will be illegal in New York. He wants to carve out a section of the state’s environmental conservation law to include giraffes because currently, the sale is completely legal as giraffes aren’t considered officially endangered. Five major wildlife groups petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2017 to protect the soaring beauties under the U.S. Endangered Species Act but the application was not approved. Dozens of other petitions are currently in the works.
Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal (D-New York) has agreed to take up the bill in the state assembly and is confident it’ll pass on both sides of the aisle.
“People around the world mourned the loss of Jeffrey the Giraffe from Toys ‘R’ Us when the stores closed and he was just a cartoon,” Rosenthal said.
“Certainly we can take some action to protect real living giraffes that are being killed for sport.”
