'Decades Of Fashion' Owner Pleads No Contest To Misdemeanor Endangered Animal Sales

'Decades Of Fashion' Owner Pleads No Contest To Misdemeanor Endangered Animal SalesAttorney Bill Fazio and Cecily Hansen. | Photo:  Evan Sernoffsky/San Francisco Chronicle 
Camden Avery
Published on December 20, 2017

Decades Of Fashion (1653 Haight St.) owner Cicely Hansen pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor counts of endangered animal sales this week, reports the Chronicle.

To resolve the case, she struck a deal for 500 hours of community service and 3 years' probation.

The plea is the culmination of a saga that began in February 2016 with a raid by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Hansen has continually denied culpability in the matter, claiming that the items were vintage, part of a personal collection and not for sale, and that she wasn't aware that their protection fell under revised commerce standards.

Photo: Camden Avery/Hoodline

"I am not the 'poaching monster' the DA slandered and depicted me as on TV and in the headlines," Hansen told Hoodline via email.

"I never imagined that after twelve years, San Francisco would turn on me," she said. "How does a disgruntled employee with a shady background get the ear of the DA and Fish & Game?"

Throughout the investigation and trial, Hansen maintained her ignorance of the law on fur sales and her longstanding love of animals, at one point, noting that  "even our beloved Jackie O. wore a fur jacket."

Although Supervisor Katy Tang has proposed legislation that would prohibit fur sales in San Francisco, shops like Hansen's, which sells second-hand and vintage items, would be exempted.