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According to an email from Humane Society International (HSI), Kopenhagen Fur, the world’s largest fur auction house, will close in the next two to three years. The company acts as a broker for pelts produced in Denmark and across the world. The mink industry in Denmark has been under watch since the coronavirus was found at multiple farms.

Source: South China Morning Post/Youtube

Prior to the announcement, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) published a new report, Rapid Risk Assessment: Detection of new SARS-CoV-2 variants related to mink. The report underlines the need for an investigation to determine if a new variant created by mink on farms will cause problems.

Dr. Joanna Swabe, senior director of public affairs for Humane Society International/Europe said in an emailed statement, “The ECDC report points at fur farms as potential virus factories capable of churning out mutations of COVID-19 and even undermining medical progress towards reliable treatments. The report further validates the decision by the Danish government to respond to the public health risk that is presented by the fur trade, and should be a serious wake-up call for mink farming countries not yet systematically testing mink to take urgent action.”

The closing of the auction house is yet another signal that the end of fur farming is close. As the Danish government announced the end of farming, the auction house will lack supply to stay in business. “The announcement by Kopenhagen Fur that it will cease trading shows that fur production has now passed a tipping point and it could very well signal the beginning of the end of the fur trade. Fur farms are not only the cause of immense and unnecessary animal suffering, but they are also ticking time bombs for deadly diseases. We cannot simply sit back and wait for the next pandemic to emerge from them. Set against a backdrop of public rejection of fur as unethical and outdated, governments must acknowledge that they can no longer justify allowing an industry that both threatens human health and costs tax-payers billions to manage biosecurity risks and provide farmers compensation following culls. It’s time to turn off the life-Support machine for this archaic trade, and focus instead on supporting farmers to move to humane, safe and economically viable livelihoods. There was never going to be a happy ending for the animals either, stopping breeding them altogether is also the best way to prevent animals suffering for the fickle whims of fashion,” said Swabe.

The first infections on mink fur farms were found in April and the government used the opportunity to take a stance against the industry and call for closing all farms by March 2021. Over a million mink were killed during the pandemic.

Read more about mink and fur farms during coronavirus, including the coronavirus spread through Dutch farms, a million mink killed by Dutch fur farms during coronavirus, and the Dutch government’s previous statement on mink and the coronavirus. 

Source: PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)/Youtube

Sign this petition to demand a complete end to mink fur farming in Denmark!

Tell Denmark to End Mink Fur FarmingClick Here to Sign Petition

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