More than a dozen European countries have banned breeding fur animals

Many European countries have already completely banned fur farming. Others have introduced strict regulations making fur production practically unprofitable. There is even an ongoing debate in Britain over the sale of fur.

Great Britain was the first country in the world to ban breeding fur animals in 2000. This week, former British Fur Trade Association (BFTA) president Mike Moser called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to impose a fur sales ban. He described the fur industry as “anachronistic, barbaric and unnecessary.”

In 2004, breeding animals for fur was banned in six of Austria’s nine Länder. The rest introduced such stringent animal welfare regulations that running farms turned out to be unprofitable.

The authorities of the Netherlands, which is one of the world’s largest producers of mink fur, decided in 2012 to gradually close farms by 2024. The coronavirus pandemic, which infected animals massively, however, accelerated the implementation of this plan. At the end of August, the government decided that the last mink farms would be closed by March 2021. In the 1990s, foxes and chinchillas were banned.

Since 2017, there has been a ban on breeding animals for fur in Croatia. The regulations adopted in 2006 provided for a ten-year transition period allowing producers to change their business profile. A similar solution was introduced in Serbia, where farms ceased to operate in 2019.

Slovenia banned fur farming in 2013 and the industry was given three years to close all establishments. Similar regulations were introduced in North Macedonia a year later.

Once the largest producer of fox skins, Norway banned breeding animals for fur in 2018. Existing farms must be phased out by 2025.

In the same year, the decision to close all fur farms by 2023 was taken by the authorities of Flanders, the last part of Belgium where it was still legal. Also in Luxembourg, a law was passed in 2018 prohibiting the keeping of animals for fur.

Pursuant to the regulations adopted in 2019, the last farms in Slovakia will be closed in 2025. In the Czech Republic, breeding animals for fur was stopped at the beginning of 2019, after a two-year adjustment period. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, this is expected to happen in 2028.

The list prepared by PETA also lists countries that have introduced a partial ban on breeding fur animals. This is what happened in Hungary, where since 2011 only breeding chinchillas and angora rabbits are legal. By 2023, Denmark’s fox fur farming industry is expected to end, but Denmark is still one of the world’s largest producers of mink fur.

Some European countries have not formally banned the breeding of animals for fur, but passed legislation to ensure animal welfare that made the activity economically unviable. This led to the closure of existing farms in Switzerland, Sweden, Germany and Italy. In Spain, since 2007, it has not been allowed to open new mink plants for fur.

According to the information provided by the Fur Free Alliance coalition which unites organizations fighting for animal rights, the enactment of a law prohibiting the breeding of animals for fur is being considered in Bulgaria, Ireland, Estonia and Montenegro, as well as in Ukraine and Lithuania.

Outside Europe, keeping animals for fur is banned in Japan, where the last farms were closed in 2016. Minks are not allowed to be imported into New Zealand, which has practically ended the breeding of these animals, but it is still allowed to breed ferrets for fur.

American West Hollywood was the first city in the world to ban the sale of fur products in 2011. Similar regulations were subsequently adopted in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Berkeley. From 2023, the sale and production of fur products will be illegal throughout California. The entire state had previously banned trapping fur animals, and imposed strict requirements on keeping mink and fox in captivity, preventing profitable breeding.

In 2017, India banned the import of reptile, chinchilla, mink and fox skin.

The Brazilian state of Sao Paulo banned the import and sale of all fur products in 2015. A year earlier, a law was introduced prohibiting the breeding of animals for fur.

The Humane Society International organization estimates that around 100 million animals are bred and then slaughtered for fur worldwide each year. According to an analysis prepared in 2018 by the Open Cages Association of the Western Center for Social and Economic Research, the annual turnover of the global fur industry at retail prices is $ 30 to 40 billion.

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