Fur farming
Worldwide, an estimated 25 million mink and 3 million foxes (mostly Arctic foxes) are reared on factory farms and killed so that they can be skinned and turned into fur coats. Other species that suffer the same fate are polecats, raccoons, red foxes, sables, coypu, and chinchillas. The main countries involved in fur farming are Denmark, China, Finland, Russia and the USA.
Around 180 million rabbits are also bred and killed each year primarily for their fur, with Europe and China being the biggest producers.
It is also estimated that two million cats and dogs are killed for their fur – mainly in China and SE Asia.
On fur farms, animals are imprisoned in tiny wire-mesh cages for their entire lives until they are killed. For species such as mink and foxes, these conditions are especially appalling, as they are wild animals, and would naturally travel many miles each day. Being caged in huge sheds, where thousands of other animals are also imprisoned, drives them insane with anxiety and fear. Repetitive movements, such as head bobbing and circling, are therefore common.
Animals on fur farms are killed using barbaric methods such as electrocution (using one electrode clamped in the mouth and another inserted in the rectum), gassing, lethal injection or neck breaking. These crude methods are employed to ensure that the pelts (the animals’ skins and fur) are not damaged.
In June 2007 the EU voted to ban the trade in dog and cat fur which means that it is no longer legal to import, export or trade in the products from domestic dogs or cats anywhere in the European Union.
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