The owner of two boutiques in Carmel-by-the-Sea agreed to pay $150,000 in civil penalties for selling fur products, despite a state ban that went into effect in 2023.
Tracy Odle, owner of Augustina’s Designer Boutique and Augustina Leathers, sold coats, hats and other products made from fox, mink, sable and beaver fur, according to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office.
A call to the store seeking comment from Odle was not immediately returned.
A law enacted in 2019, Assembly Bill 44, went into effect in 2023 and prohibits the sale of such items, with certain exceptions for Native American, tribal, religious or cultural purposes.
Odle advertised and sold the products online and in her store despite knowing about that law banning them, according to the district attorney’s office.
The civil penalty is paid to the county to cover prosecution fees and deposited into a fund to pay for enforcement of the law by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, according to text of the law.
The investigation began after the Department of Fish and Wildlife received a complaint on its CALTIP tip line, which can be reached at (888) 334-2258.