Animal rights groups call for fur farm bans after minks test positive for COVID-19

‘In the face of a global crisis…the Netherlands shouldn’t wait another four years to shut down its last remaining fur farms – it must take action now.’

With reports of minks contracting coronavirus on two Dutch fur farms surfacing, animal advocates are urging local governments to ban fur farming in the Netherlands and across the world.

Netherlands is already in the process of phasing out fur farms, the deadline for which is set for 2024 after levying a ban on new mink farms in 2013.

In a letter to Carola Schouten, the Dutch agriculture minister, PETA Netherlands urged her to bring that date forward.

Meanwhile, in a separate letter to Gov. Tony Evers, the charity not only called for mink farms to be banned in Wisconsin, but also offered to help retrain employees to grow snap beans, sweet corn, cranberries, cucumbers, carrots, cabbage, and other crops.

Disease breeding grounds

PETA highlighted that fur farms represented a similar public health risk to wet markets where animals are confined next to each other in wire cages and in unhealthy conditions. The novel coronavirus that has spread globally is said to have originated from a wet market in China last December.

Mimi Bekhechi, PETA director of international programs, said: “Filthy fur farms packed with sick, stressed, and injured minks are breeding grounds for disease.

 “In the face of a global crisis stemming from the wildlife trade, the Netherlands shouldn’t wait another four years to shut down its last remaining fur farms – it must take action now.”

Claire Bass, executive director of Humane Society International/UK, echoed PETA’s stance: “In addition to the animal suffering that’s an unavoidable fact of the fur trade, the potential for zoonotic disease spread is another compelling reason for all fashion companies to go fur-free, and for governments to take action to shut down this dirty trade.

“One of the lessons we must learn from COVID-19 is that we cannot carry on pushing animals to the limit of their endurance without serious consequences for both animal and human health. We urge the Netherlands and other countries in the process of phasing out fur farming to speed up their industry closures, and countries yet to commit to bans, including China and Finland, to do so now.”

• Read: Canada Goose pledges to ditch virgin fur in future designs

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