Fur Farming Bans
European Union laws and recommendations concerning fur farming
The trade of cat and dog fur is banned in European Union member states, as well as in the USA and Australia, because cats and dogs are regarded as pets. In addition, the trade of seal fur is banned in the EU, Mexico and Croatia. The use of leg hold traps for trapping wild animals is outlawed in more than 60 countries around the world. Leg hold traps are regarded as being a very cruel method of trapping – when an animal steps on the trap, the steel jaws slam shut with tremendous force, often causing serious injuries. In their efforts to free themselves animals try to force open the steel jaws with biting actions, and hence are often found with broken-out teeth. Desperate attempts by animals to free themselves often end with the trapped leg being chewed off and the animal escaping. The most probable outcome is a slow and agonising death from infection. Animals which haven’t died from cold or predation by a carnivore are killed by hunters using a permitted method. In the USA, for example, the following killing methods are allowed: neck breaking, suffocation, stunning and killing with an axe, spade or other implement; drowning, or shooting.
The directive, passed in 2009, concerning the welfare of animals during slaughter and killing, requires that from January 1st 2013 a number of improvements must have been put in place. For example, killing must be carried out under the supervision of a qualified employee with adherence to specific technical requirements and using carbon monoxide gas.
Recommendations by the Council of Europe in 1999 regarding fur farming state that animals which have been born in the wild, as well as those belonging to species that are unable to adapt to life in captivity, should not be kept in fur farms.
Recommendations, published in 2001 in a review by the Scientific Committee of the European Commission on Animal Health and Welfare, envisage that all fur farms must have introduced animal housing that conforms to all the essential needs of the farmed animals. However, the recommendations of this review are not legally binding at present.
Countries in which fur farming is banned
Austria
As far back as 1998 six of the nine federal states of Austria passed laws banning fur farming, and the other three federal states introduced welfare regulations that were so strict that the continued fur farming ceased to be economically favourable. For this reason there have been no fur farms in Austria since 1998. In 2004 a law was passed banning all fur farming in Austria. The 1998 bans had a positive influence on the situation in other countries (subsequently bans were introduced in Great Britain, Croatia, the Netherlands and elsewhere).
Great Britain
Great Britain was the first country in the world to ban fur farming. A law was passed in the year 2000 banning fur farming in England and Wales based on ethical values in society - fur farming was considered unacceptable by most people. The government passed this law recognising that keeping animals in captivity and killing them solely for their fur is unjust and an unnecessary evil. The law came into force on 1st January 2003. In 2002 the Scottish Parliament passed a similar law banning fur farming, although the last fur farm in Scotland ceased its activities in 1993.
Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Bulgaria
A law banning fur farming was passed in Croatia in 2007. The ban will come into force on 1st January 2017 after a 10 year phase-out period. However, because during this 10 year period countless animals will be kept on fur farms and slaughtered, and because this ban does not apply to the general trade of fur and its products, Croatia’s animal rights activists continue to campaign to ban the fur trade. In 2009 the parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina passed a similar law to the one enacted shortly before in Croatia, with a phase-out period before the fur farming ban comes fully into effect by 2018. Fur farming is banned in Bulgaria.
The Netherlands
The Netherlands The ban on fur farming in the Netherlands, passed in December 2012, is of particular significance, because at present the Netherlands’ fur producing sector is one of the largest in the world (every year 6 million mink are killed on 160 mink farms). Despite this economic sector being profitable, the ban was introduced for ethical reasons. Fox and chinchilla farming were banned by laws passed in the mid 1990’s, and in 2009 the lower house of the Netherlands’ parliament started to debate the banning of mink farming. The vote in the senate was delayed, however. In the end it was decided that mink farming would also be banned, and all mink farms will be phased out by 2024.
Slovenia
In March 2013, 95% of Slovenian MPs voted for several changes in the Animal Protection Law. One of these changes was the ban on fur farming with the phase-out period of two years. Fur farming was banned because the conditions on these farms were concluded to be insufficient for the needs of the animals. The new law also introduced ban on farming and hunting animals for their fur, skin or down.
In March 2013, 95% of Slovenian MPs voted for several changes in the Animal Protection Law. One of these changes was the ban on fur farming with the phase-out period of two years. Fur farming was banned because the conditions on these farms were concluded to be insufficient for the needs of the animals. The new law also introduced ban on farming and hunting animals for their fur, skin or down.
Countries in which the fur farming is limited
Switzerland
There are strict regulations governing fur farming in Swiss law, which have made the raising of fur bearing animals non-viable for farmers, and hence there are no fur farms in Switzerland. These welfare regulations are similar to regulations applicable when keeping these animals in zoos: - two arctic foxes or racoon dogs must have a 40 m2 minimum area of ground where they can burrow, a place to hide, and an 8 m2 enclosed indoor space. Two red foxes must have a 100 m2 area of ground, a place to hide, and an indoor space of 10 m2. Two minks or polecats must be provided with a ground area of 15 m2 and an area of water.
Denmark
In 2009 a law was passed in Denmark, which is a major fur producing country, that, with two exceptions, will outlaw fox farming by 2017 after a phase-out period. The exceptions are two fox farms for whom this business provides the main income – these will have to shut down by 2023. However, mink farming is still legal - Denmark is the world’s second largest producer of mink fur (the largest being China).
Italy
In 2008 Italy passed strict fur farming welfare laws, similar to those in Switzerland. In Italy foxes and chinchillas can only be farmed for fur if they have pens located on the ground (not cages), as well as nest spaces, objects to play with, and swimming water. For this reason the last chinchilla farm in Italy ceased its activities in 2012.
Sweden
In response to public criticism about the conditions in which foxes are kept on fur farms (these conditions are insufficient for the needs of the animals) a law was passed which banned the keeping of foxes in cages, and which stipulated that farmed foxes must be able to move freely, dig burrows and socialize with other foxes. Because of these requirements fox farming is not economically viable for those in the business, and has stopped in Sweden.
Germany
Several federal states of Germany – Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein – have banned fur farming. In the other federal states fur farms must be licensed.
Trade regulations prohibiting fur and fur products
A number of towns and cities have decided to ban the selling of fur and its products, among them: - West Hollywood; Dublin and neighbouring areas; Tralee. The city of West Hollywood decided on a ban in 2011, and this will come into force in September 2013. There are about 200 clothes’ shops in West Hollywood, almost half of which sold fur products when the act was passed, and it has been estimated that the value of these products reached about two million dollars annually.
A bill to ban the import and trade of fur in Israel is currently in the review stage. If this bill is passed, Israel will become the first country in the world to ban the trading of fur (an exception would be made to for the import of fox fur for reasons of religious tradition - because of opposition expressed towards the bill by ultra-orthodox Jews, import of the fox fur hats that make up part of the religious festival costume of this group would be permitted).