The horrible truth of the fur industry has been revealed in footage from the biggest ever undercover investigation into European fur farms.
The chilling exhibition entitled ‘This is EU fur farming’ exposes the grim reality of industrial fur farming in six EU countries.
The harrowing footage, captured by independent animal rights investigators on more than 100 farm visits, shows animals, including mink, foxes and raccoon dogs, in disturbing conditions.
Injured animals can be seen struggling to survive in feces-covered cages, some of which are infested with maggots or are missing patches of fur, eyes and limbs.
The images also show dogs involved in cannibalistic acts and corpses piled up in containers.
An injured white mink. The chilling exhibition entitled ‘This is EU fur farming’ exposes the grim reality of industrial fur farming in six EU countries.
Injured animals can be seen struggling to survive in cages. The harrowing footage was captured by independent animal rights investigators on more than 100 farm visits.
The images were delivered exclusively to the animal protection groups Oikeutta eläimille and Humane Society International.
Kristo Muurimaa of Oikeutta eläimille said: ‘EU leaders must open their eyes to the horrific suffering of animals on fur farms. There is no humane way to produce fur, so as long as fur farming practices continue, more shocking images like this will inevitably emerge. It is time to put an end to this cruel industry forever.”
Animal welfare concerns from the research included cannibalism among mink, which are naturally solitary animals; injured and deceased animals locked in cages with other animals; animals with visible bloody wounds, missing some limbs, tails or ears; serious eye infections; and disturbing cases of self-mutilation.
The research was carried out on farms in Finland, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Spain and Denmark.
On all farms, animals were found housed in small, sterile and unsanitary cages where incidents of cannibalism were frequently documented and injured, dead and dying animals were discovered alongside their cage mates.
The creatures shown in the images are kept in disturbing conditions.
A white mink with part of its face missing.
Piles of corpses inside a container
A white mink is missing an eye
Video shows animals missing large areas of hair
A researcher from one of the covered farms
An injured white mink
A dog missing an eye
A white mink with its nose missing.
A wild white mink
A white mink with a missing claw
According to Humane Society International, the extent of animal suffering and welfare violations of EU Directive 98/58/EC on the protection of animals raised for agricultural purposes was consistent across countries and farms.
Dr Joanna Swabe, senior director of public affairs at Humane Society International/Europe, said: “This shocking research shows that EU fur farms expose animals to unspeakable suffering and must be banned.
‘This damning evidence shows that no matter which EU country you look at, animals on fur farms are being subjected to misery that our EU leaders should be ashamed of.
“The European Commission has a clear opportunity to end this appalling industry and we urge it to do so quickly and decisively by presenting a proposal to ban fur farming in the EU.”
It comes as the European Commission is considering its response to a European Citizens’ Initiative petition signed by 1.5 million people calling for an EU-wide ban on fur farming.
Twenty European countries, including fifteen Member States, have already introduced bans. However, an estimated 10 million fur-bearing animals are still raised for fur fashion each year across Europe, according to Humane Society International.
Around 100 million animals a year are used for fur worldwide, and in 2021 alone around 10 million mink, foxes and raccoon dogs were raised and killed on fur farms across Europe.
Twenty European countries have banned fur farming.
Minks kept in overcrowded conditions on one of the farms
A row of cages on one of the farms.
A white mink with facial deformity
An injured white mink
An injured white mink
A dead white mink inside a cage
A dead animal inside one of the cages.
An injured white mink
Two other countries – Switzerland and Germany – have implemented strict regulations that have effectively ended fur farming and three other countries – Denmark, Sweden and Hungary – have imposed measures that have ended fur farming of certain species.
Most of the world’s top designers have introduced fur-free policies, including Kering’s six fashion brands (Saint Laurent, Brioni, Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga and Bottega Veneta), as well as names such as Valentino, Prada, Armani, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo, DKNY, Burberry and Chanel.
Minks have been found on more than 480 mink fur farms in 13 countries infected with COVID-19, and the World Health Organization has recognized the potential for the spread of zoonotic diseases on fur farms.
In October 2022, an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) at a mink fur farm in Spain led influential virologists to call it “a warning bell” for the practice to be immediately ended.
In recent months, Finnish authorities have ordered the culling of nearly 300,000 foxes, mink and raccoon dogs due to public health concerns following outbreaks of the virus at more than 30 fur farms in the country.
Leading virologists have recently warned about the public health threat posed by fur farming and have called on governments to “consider the growing evidence suggesting that fur farming should be phased out in the interests of pandemic preparedness”.
