People around the world have been confronted with images of the 17 million mink being destroyed in Denmark because some of their farmed mink and mink farm workers have contracted Covid-19. The combination of the pandemic and large scale fur farming has caused an international health scare and an economic and political crisis in Denmark, one of the top three mink fur producers globally.
Global health experts are concerned about virus mutations passing from factory-farmed mink back to farm workers. While the “Cluster 5” virus variant is thought to have died out, the exact impact of the mutation is not yet known and there have been concerns that it might threaten the effectiveness of the new vaccines promising to rescue us from the pandemic. And, it is not just a problem in Denmark. Covid-19 has also invaded mink farms in The Netherlands, Sweden, the US, Spain and Italy according to the WHO and there are now mink-related Covid-19 mutations in humans in seven countries.
Why, especially now, is fur farming being allowed to continue? To support a fashion industry selling fur coats and fur trim for jackets and hoods, pom poms for hats, gloves and shoes and mink eyelash extensions? For the sake of fashion, we risk further spreading disease amidst a global pandemic that has killed millions, cost trillions, all the while using scarce government funds to prop up a declining industry. Not to mention the hidden suffering of more than 100 million animals that are bred and killed on fur factory farms globally.
Fur factory farms house thousands of animals in unhygienic, extremely cruel conditions, and negatively impact the environment with manure, waste, and the chemicals used in their operations. Fur farming has been banned in 12 European countries but is still big business in the US and Canada with over three million and 1.8 million animals on fur factory farms respectively.
The virus mutation threat inherent in any factory farm has been predicted by scientists for years – and largely ignored. Closely confined, stressed animals with weakened immune systems in unhygienic conditions are the perfect “mixing vessels” for viruses to combine and mutate and increase the risk of zoonotic diseases.
It has taken a global pandemic for more people to question the necessity of factory farms — whether for fur or for food — given their climate impact, environmental footprint, disease risk and animal welfare issues.
One of the big lessons of the pandemic is that we can’t afford to revert to the choices that got us here. And we can only hope that the spectacle of millions of doomed animals farmed for their fur is an inflection point that will accelerate the change to a safer, healthier and more humane planet for people and animals.