Ban fur farming in Sweden
A large majority of Swedish people want a ban on mink farming. On May 10, the Parliamentary Environment and Agriculture Committee will take a decision on a number of motions on mink farming.
Will their elected representatives listen to the Swedish people?
Will their elected representatives listen to the Swedish people?
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On May 3, 2012 a documentary about mink farming that you can see HERE, was shown on Swedish television depicting a controversial business that had not only shocked many Swedes but showed also that some of the practices were contrary to the Swedish Animal Welfare act.
In the documentary, viewers could see a ferret held in what appeared to be a cage designed for mink. This is not allowed because ferrets can not be kept on wire floors and must have at least five square meters of space to move around.
The documentary showed how the minks were packed in a box to be exposed to carbon dioxide. Camilla Bergvall from Animal rights fur group responded:
"We doubt that the killing box contains the 80 percent volume carbon dioxide, as regulations require, at a time when minks were packed into it. No carbon dioxide tube was connected to the box and the door opened all the time", said Camilla Bergvall, Director of Animal rights group.
"We also do not think there was any possibility of measuring the gas content, visually inspect the minks, or that animals are not damaged during handling or when they were in the crowded box piled on each other" continued Camilla Bergvall in the following article.
In the documentary, viewers could see a ferret held in what appeared to be a cage designed for mink. This is not allowed because ferrets can not be kept on wire floors and must have at least five square meters of space to move around.
The documentary showed how the minks were packed in a box to be exposed to carbon dioxide. Camilla Bergvall from Animal rights fur group responded:
"We doubt that the killing box contains the 80 percent volume carbon dioxide, as regulations require, at a time when minks were packed into it. No carbon dioxide tube was connected to the box and the door opened all the time", said Camilla Bergvall, Director of Animal rights group.
"We also do not think there was any possibility of measuring the gas content, visually inspect the minks, or that animals are not damaged during handling or when they were in the crowded box piled on each other" continued Camilla Bergvall in the following article.
Investigation of Swedish fur farms in 2010
In a year and a half, investigators from the Animal Rights Alliance toured 20 per cent of fur farms in Sweden.
The shocking video footage below was taken during the investigations and documents the routine cruelty suffered by minks on Swedish fur farms.
Opinion polls from both 2011 and 2012 shows that seven out of ten Swedes want a ban on the breeding of minks in cages. That represents 6.5 million people. Only 18% of the Swedish people think that mink farms should be allowed.
On fur farms where minks live next to each other, often two or more together, in wire cages that are only a third of a square meter, it is common that they are hurting themselves and each other.
Studies on Swedish farms showed that 70-85% of the adult minks were performing stereotypic behaviours. This is a serious behavioural disorder and a clear sign that the animals are stressed and can not act naturally.
Minks are very active and solitary predators that in their natural habitat climb, dive and swim. An adult mink in the wild has a territory that always lie along a stream that can extend up to six kilometers. The mink catches his prey up to 70 percent in water and it swims daily, up to 250 meters. The animal rights report Fur Farms (see document below) summarized some of the research done on minks and the research results showed that there is currently no way to keep minks in cages that are compatible with the Swedish Animal Welfare Act.
Current Legislative proposals:
4 a § - Minks raised for fur production should be kept in such a way that their need to move, climb, practice their hunting behavior and engage in other chores as well as their need to periodically be alone can be satisfied. Minks will also have access to water to swim in. The Government, or authorized by the Government, the Board of Agriculture may issue further regulations on conditions for the keeping of mink for their fur.
This means that all fur farms in Sweden need to be shut down because no captivity can give the animals their natural needs.
4 a § - Minks raised for fur production should be kept in such a way that their need to move, climb, practice their hunting behavior and engage in other chores as well as their need to periodically be alone can be satisfied. Minks will also have access to water to swim in. The Government, or authorized by the Government, the Board of Agriculture may issue further regulations on conditions for the keeping of mink for their fur.
This means that all fur farms in Sweden need to be shut down because no captivity can give the animals their natural needs.
Impact on the environment
The farming of animals for fur, while a profitable venture for fur farms, has proven to be an environmental disaster for the planet.
The intensive confinement of animals, in it's self, has always been of environmental concern. With thousands of animals being kept over a small area, the build-up of excrement is obvious concern, as it will either be soaked into the soil and end up in our ground water, or it will run off into near-by streams as a result of heavy rain. There is an obvious health factor involved with groundwater contamination. Each mink skinned by fur farmers produces about 44 pounds of feces in his or her lifetime.
The nitrogen of these farms also impedes the wintering of trees. This accounts for added frost damage and easier access for insects and fungi into the weakened tree.
Fur farms are a source of air pollution as well due to the tons of ammonia they produce every year!
Fur is only "natural" when it's on the animal who was born with it. Once an animal has been slaughtered and skinned, his or her fur is treated with a soup of toxic chemicals to "convert the putrefactive raw skin into a durable material" (i.e., to keep it from rotting). Various salts - along with ammonia, formaldehyde, hydrogen peroxide, and other chromates and bleaching agents - are used to preserve and dye fur. Furs are loaded with chemicals to keep them from decomposing in the buyer's closet, and fur production pollutes the environment and gobbles up precious resources. Producing a fur coat from ranch-raised animals takes more than 15 times as much energy as does producing a faux-fur coat.
Considering the above facts and with all the natural and synthetic materials available today, there is simply no justification for this disgusting industry to continue.
Please take action to end fur farming in Sweden
By signing the two petitions created by Occupy for Animals and our sister-organization ESDAW, using the widget below, a message will instantly be sent to the Swedish Government and the Swedish Members of the Parliament.
Thank you very much for your signature!
UPDATE
We have been informed that the parliamentary decision in this matter will be taken in early June. Our petition will remain active until the date of the final vote.
Please continue to sign and to share with as mans as possible.
Thank you!
Please continue to sign and to share with as mans as possible.
Thank you!
