The Treasury was reluctant to commit money to a process of undetermined feasibility and duration, where the moral responsibility appeared to lie with the fur industry. It was not until that a MAFF mink eradication team of seven people was funded, and it was wound up in when it was clear that this level of commitment was inadequate. Attacks on mink farms. The fur farming industry in the UK was subject to increasing statutory restrictions from until it was finally banned completely by the Fur Farming Prohibition Act The few fur-farms still operating at that time had been the focus of attacks by animal rights activists.
By now, the mink kept in fur-farms were very different from those of the s, having been selected over many generations for ease of handling and in effect domesticated. Consequently many of the mink released in the attacks of the s were quickly recaught and the remainder probably contributed little to the wild mink population.
Back in the s, according to MAFF operators, the colours of wild-caught mink in the UK reflected the specialities of nearby fur-farms. Colonisation of Britain is probably still ongoing: areas in the extreme north of Scotland appear not to have mink yet. Now that the mink is established, it raises awkward issues shared with a long list of other introduced species. A ban on fur farming will come into force on January 1 , when the last three mink farms in the country will have to close, the government announced yesterday.
From that date it will be illegal under the Fur Farming Prohibition Act to keep animals solely or primarily for slaughter for the value of their fur in England and Wales.
The decision had been delayed while the government worked out what compensation to pay farmers. The new requirements rendered fox and chinchilla farming economically unviable in Sweden.
Switzerland introduced legislation in that allowed animals to be kept captive only in conditions that are equivalent to modern zoos. Fur farming under such rules was deemed to be unprofitable and no longer takes place in the country. The ban was introduced as a precautionary measure to prevent fur farmers from moving their operations there. To prevent ecological damage caused by escaped mink as an invasive alien species, Spain adopted stricter regulations in which prohibit the building of new mink fur farms.
In , the Japanese Invasive Alien Species Act made it illegal to build new mink fur farms in the country. This led to the phasing-out of fur farming in Japan in following the closure of the last mink fur farm due to non-compliance. In New Zealand introduced a law to prohibit the import of mink, which effectively bans mink farming in the country.
Denmark introduced a ban on fox farming in In addition, Denmark prohibited the building of new raccoon dog farms in , which led to an effective ban since there are no raccoon dog farms in Denmark. Share Click to share on Facebook Opens in new window Click to share on Twitter Opens in new window Click to email this to a friend Opens in new window. Raccoon dogs and foxes intensively farmed for fur in Asia, filmed November-December Rabbits are also killed for their fur, likely to be in the hundreds of millions.
Fur comes with a hefty environmental price tag. Whilst all materials have some eco-footprint, when compared to other textiles, fur takes a significant toll in terms of the C0 2 emissions associated with keeping and feeding tens of thousands of carnivorous animals on a farm, the manure runoff into lakes and rivers, and the cocktail of toxic and carcinogenic chemicals such as chromium and formaldehyde used to preserve the fur and skin to stop it from rotting.
An increasing number of fashion designers and retailers are dropping fur cruelty. In addition, major online fashion retail platforms Net-A-Porter and Farfetch have adopted fur-free policies. Fur farming is not only cruel to animals, it also presents risks to public health. A June letter signed by over 60 veterinarians and virologists highlighted outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 on hundreds of mink fur farms across a dozen countries, and the potential for such farms to act as reservoirs for the virus.
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