By Gretta Dattan, MCL student at University College Dublin

Although the cruelty of fur farming has been well known for many years1, momentum towards banning this practice only now appears to be growing in Global North countries. Ireland is one of the latest countries to implement such a ban. Its Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021 (‘2021 Bill’) aims to ban the farming of animals for their fur and skin, lists the penalties for such farming, and outlines how remaining fur farms will be compensated for the demolition of the farms and culling of existing mink.2

As of November 4, 2021, the 2021 Bill has completed the Dáil Third Stage, or Committee Stage. It will next progress through eight consecutive stages in the Dáil and the Seanad, after which it will be enacted. Once enacted, it will repeal specific provisions of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 and will repeal the Milk (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1977.3

Some mink farmers have pushed back regarding questions of adequate compensation. The Minister for Agriculture, Food, and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD, has expressed a willingness to negotiate the compensation plans.4

McConalogue and his Department cited several different reports as motivating the 2021 Bill, such as an ISPCA report of a 2018 opinion poll in which 80% of people in Ireland agreed that fur farming should be banned.5 Also instructive was a 2018 report from the Veterinary Council of Ireland, which found that fur farms cannot provide for the basic welfare needs of mink and other farmed wild animals, such as foxes. The report concluded that “there should be an immediate ban on the farming of mink and similar wild animals for the production of fur”.6 Likewise, a Department briefing paper from 2021 stated that it is no longer considered socially acceptable for animals to be farmed for their fur or skin.7 

In addition to animal welfare concerns, the fur farming industry has also been accused of being seriously environmentally detrimental. Waste runoff from farms and the leakage of chemicals used to process mink fur are both highly toxic and can poison local waterways and ecosystems.8 Another risk is that if mink are non-native in the area, they can cut into the local ecosystems as a highly adaptable invasive species and if they mingle with local mink populations, they can spread diseases.

There are also concerns about risks to human health, including the potential transmission of viruses such as Covid-19. The rise of Covid-19 infections in farmed mink is likely to have been a factor motivating this proposed law reform. Over the course of the last 18 months, mink have been shown to be especially susceptible to Covid-19. In fact, they are the only known nonhuman animal species capable of contracting Covid-19 from humans and then reinfecting humans with the virus.9 There is also concern that the virus could mutate more quickly in farmed mink populations, as the cramped conditions of mink farms often find tens of thousands of mink crammed together, a perfect breeding ground for virus mutation and growth.

Mink with Covid-19 can reinfect humans but they can also infect other mink; there is at least one case of a wild mink in Utah contracting Covid-19 from a mink farm. If transmission to wild mink is widespread, it could be devastating for native mink populations.10 Some state governments, including those of Finland, Canada, and the USA, have started investing in mink-specific Covid-19 vaccines. However, some studies have questioned the efficacy of such vaccines as well as their effect on reinfection rates for humans.11

Considering the broad public support for banning fur farming, and the strains on environmental resources that fur farms create, it is baffling that such farms have been permitted to continue operating for so long, especially in Ireland where the domestic mink farming industry is very small. Only three mink farms operate in Ireland, employing a total of 13 individuals across the country – all of whom will be compensated per the terms of the 2021 Bill.12

The Irish move to ban fur farming reflects the larger global transition away from fur and the farming of fur-bearing animals. France and Italy recently banned fur farming.13 In June 2021, Austria and the Netherlands led a coalition of EU Member States in requesting the European Commission to bring legislation banning fur farming across the EU.14 The UK was actually the first country in the world to ban fur farming via the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Act 2000 and Fur Farming (Prohibition) (Northern Ireland) Order 2002.15 With an EU-wide ban looming on the horizon, Irish lawmakers may have been motivated to act sooner rather than later.

It is encouraging to see some countries ban the farming of fur as the demand for mink is growing in others.16 Ireland’s step towards banning fur farming shows hope for the future of fur-bearing animals, and with any luck many more bans across the EU will follow. Education is paramount, however, and advocates must continue to remind consumers to avoid fur-containing products.

  1. https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1999-03-05/debates/7e3be5bd-008c-4a50-82da-f2e8fc91a9aa/FurFarming(Prohibition)Bill
  2. https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/2021/136/
  3. https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/bill/2021/136/eng/ver_a/b136a21d.pdf
  4. https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/libraryResearch/2021/2021-11-16_bill-digest-animal-health-and-welfare-miscellaneous-provisions-bill-2021_en.pdf
  5. https://ispca.ie/images/pages/Fur_Free_Briefing_A4_Ireland_12112018_DEF_(1).pdf
  6. http://www.veterinaryireland.ie/images/Veterinary_Ireland_Policy_on_Fur_Farming_22.11.2018.pdf
  7. https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/libraryResearch/2021/2021-11-16_bill-digest-animal-health-and-welfare-miscellaneous-provisions-bill-2021_en.pdf
  8. https://www.furfreealliance.com/environment-and-health/
  9. https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/files/eurogroupforanimals/2021-02/2021_02_19_scientific_statement_mink.pdf
  10. https://www.usgs.gov/news/state-news-release/multiple-coronaviruses-found-animals-around-utah-mink-farms
  11. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124721003314
  12. https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/libraryResearch/2021/2021-11-16_bill-digest-animal-health-and-welfare-miscellaneous-provisions-bill-2021_en.pdf
  13. https://www.furfreealliance.com/historic-news-france-bans-the-farming-of-wild-animals-for-their-fur/
  14. https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/news/animal-protection-organisations-welcome-member-states-call-end-fur-farming-eu-agriculture-and
  15. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisi/2002/3151/made
  16. https://ocj.com/2021/10/covid-19-changing-the-mink-production-landscape/