In her first public statement since her arraignment last week, Cicely Hansen, the owner of Decades of Fashion (1653 Haight St.) spoke to the Chronicle about the accusation that her store was illegally selling vintage furs made from the pelts of endangered animals, including jaguars and snow leopards.

The legal proceedings against Hansen come after a raid of the store last year by the Department of Fish & Wildlife, in which more than 150 items were seized.

“I’m just a senior citizen trying to run a small business,” said the 68-year-old Hansen, who maintained that the charges brought against her earlier this month were based on a legal change she was unaware of.

“After the raid, six or seven other vintage stores called me and said, ‘Oh my God’—they didn’t know the laws had changed, either,” Hansen told the Chronicle.

Before the change was made last year, it was legal to sell the furs of protected animals that predate the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Hansen said that all of her furs fell under that metric. 

“This is not about new furs,” she told the Chronicle, explaining why she appeared at her arraignment dressed in vintage furs. “This is about furs that are 60 years old. That’s why I wore what I wore.”