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Humane Society International / Global
Region: Global
Humane Society International / Europe
BRUSSELS—Signed, sealed, and delivered! The “Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics – Commit to a Europe Without Animal Testing” European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) has smashed the requirement of gathering 1 million validated signatures, reaching over 1.2 million statements of support from European citizens.
The European Commission must now meet with campaigners and address citizens’ concerns. As over 10 million animals suffer in experiments in the EU every year and new non-animal technologies are being developed faster than ever before, the time for change is now.
“The days of forcing cosmetics ingredients down the throats of defenceless animals, intentionally infecting them with debilitating diseases, or drilling holes into their skulls must end—a radical rethink at the EU level is needed to support the transition,” says Sabrina Engel, chair of the ECI’s organising committee, PETA Germany.
“This European Citizens’ Initiative powerfully backs up the demand of the European Parliament to phase out animal testing for good. With the voice of the citizens added to the chorus, the Commission cannot ignore the loud calls to accelerate the transition to non-animal science,” says Tilly Metz, MEP, Greens–European Free Alliance.
“With the threat that the chemicals strategy poses to animals in laboratories, this ECI could not be timelier. From today, no additional animal tests should be requested to fill information gaps about chemicals. We need to move to safer and more humane safety assessments of chemicals,” says Sirpa Pietikäinen, MEP, European People’s Party.
“The message from citizens has never been clearer or more aligned with the voices of scientists, industry, NGOs and politicians. Everyone understands that a plan to phase out animal experiments is a win-win situation for humans, other animals, and the environment. Now, the Commission should listen to citizens and finally make it happen,” says Anja Hazekamp, MEP, the Left.
“European citizens have been asking for cruelty-free cosmetics for a long time. This European citizens’ initiative is another reminder to the Commission that EU citizens will not stand by while loopholes in legislation are not closed to end all animal tests on cosmetics,” says Niels Fuglsang, Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.
The ECI’s three critical asks call for robust implementation of the EU ban on animal testing for cosmetics ingredients, a full transition to non-animal methods for chemical safety tests and committing to a plan to phase out all experiments on animals.
The ECI was launched in August 2021 by Cruelty Free Europe, Eurogroup for Animals, the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments, Humane Society International/Europe, and PETA, with the support of global beauty and personal-care companies The Body Shop and Dove. It has since been actively promoted by companies such as Lush and a coalition of groups and campaigners from every corner of Europe. Hundreds of celebrities also supported the campaign, including Sir Paul McCartney, Ricky Gervais, Finnish heavy metal band Lordi, Italian singer Red Canzian, French journalist Hugo Clément and actor Evanna Lynch.
No other ECI has ever received this level of support across so many different countries. To be successful, an ECI has to collect at least 1 million validated signatures and has to meet a minimum target across at least seven different EU countries. This ECI passed the minimum target in 22 different countries, demonstrating pan-European support for ending animal testing.
Note to Editors:
- The Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) has brought together a network of NGOs and multinational companies across Europe. This is the first time in history that this number of European organisations has come together to help animals in laboratories.
- Following submission and internal checks by the Commission, the number of validated signatures per country will be updated and shown here.
- After receiving the validated signatures, Commission representatives will meet with ECI organisers so they can explain in detail the issues raised in their initiative. The initiative will also receive a public hearing in the European Parliament before the Commission formally responds.
- For more information on European Citizens’ Initiatives, see the ECI Factsheet on the European Parliament website.
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Media contacts:
- PETA: Sascha Camilli +44 (0) 20 7923 6244; SaschaC@peta.org.uk
- Eurogroup for animals: Agnese Marcon +32 (0)456 078 038; a.marcon@eurogroupforanimals.org
- Cruelty free international: Steve Gibbs +44 (0) 7850 510955; Steve.Gibbs@crueltyfreeinternational.org
- HSI/Europe: Yavor Gechev +359889468098; ygechev@hsi.org
HSI/UK releases footage of animal suffering on fur farms in China, which exports millions of pounds worth of fur to the UK, renewing calls for a UK import and sales ban
Humane Society International / United Kingdom
LONDON—Heart-wrenching scenes of baby foxes, raccoon dogs and minks suffering on Chinese fur farms have been released by Humane Society International/UK as the animal protection charity renews calls for a ban on UK fur imports and sales. Millions of pounds worth of fur from China is imported into Britain every year, despite the UK having banned fur farming two decades ago on ethical grounds.
HSI’s investigation at nine fur farms in northern China — one of the world’s largest fur producing countries — focuses on a side of the fur trade rarely exposed in investigations, the suffering of babies and their mothers forced to live in cramped, filthy, unnatural conditions. Many of the older animals were found to be exhibiting behaviours signifying psychological distress, such as repetitively pacing their tiny cages. The film also showed a raccoon dog cub struggling to walk on wire mesh floor in a cage, adult foxes peering out from cages barely longer than their body length, and mink circling around in dirty cages, above piles of excrement.
Fur farming has been illegal in the UK since the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Acts came into force in 2003. Despite this, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs records show that £28,492,281 of fur has been imported to the UK from China in the last five years. HSI/UK is urging the Government to end this double standard by banning imports and sales of fur in the UK.
Claire Bass, senior director of campaigns and public affairs at Humane Society International/UK, said: “HSI’s latest investigation has once again highlighted the inhumane treatment animals suffer as fur fashion victims. The fur trade would prefer that the grim realities of fur farming were out of sight and out of mind, but as a country we owe it to these animals not to turn away, and to stop being complicit in their suffering. Many Britons will be horrified to find out that it is perfectly legal for fur from farms like those we investigated to be sold in Britain. A fur sales ban has the backing of over three quarters of the public, and should be an open goal for this Government to deliver on its ambition to be a world leader in animal welfare.”
National polling carried out in April 2022 revealed that 77% of British citizens think the Government should ban the importation of animal products such as fur, where the production methods are already banned in the UK. The #FurFreeBritain campaign has so far gathered over 1.1 million petition signatures calling on the UK to ban fur imports and sales.
In its Action Plan for Animal Welfare in 2021, the Government stated: “Fur farming has been banned on ethical grounds in England and Wales since 2000, and since 2002 in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Whilst there are existing import restrictions on seal, cat and dog fur, it is still possible to import other fur from abroad, so we will explore potential action in this area.”
In May 2021 the UK Government launched a Call for Evidence on the UK fur trade, with the stated intention of using the findings to inform possible future action. Around 30,000 responses were submitted before the consultation closed in June 2021, but 18 months on, officials are yet to release the results, or set out a policy response.
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Media contact: Sally Ivens: 07590 559299; sivens@hsi.org
Humane Society International/UK celebrates “iconic moment” towards a #FurFreeBritain
Humane Society International / United Kingdom
LONDON—British department store Harvey Nichols has confirmed that it will stop selling fur by the end of 2023, following an investigation into Chinese fur farms by animal protection organisation Humane Society International/UK.
Responding to the news, Claire Bass, senior director of campaigns and public affairs at Humane Society International/UK, said: “Harvey Nichols going fur free is an iconic moment in our campaign for a Fur Free Britain. This world famous British department store has come to the inevitable conclusion that so-called ‘ethical fur’ simply doesn’t exist and fur farming flies in the face of any credible notion of sustainability. Harvey Nichols’ compassionate stance now leaves the handful of remaining retailers that continue to sell fur looking increasingly isolated.”
The news was confirmed today in a statement to The Mirror. When asked if Harvey Nichols will continue to sell fur products, following Humane Society International/UK’s latest investigation footage from fur farms in China, a spokesperson said: “As part of our ongoing review of these practices and continued sustainability initiatives, Harvey Nichols confirms that it will phase out the sale of fur or fur-trimmed products both online and in stores, to be completely fur-free by the end of 2023.”
The well-known retail chain previously introduced a fur-free policy in 2004, however in 2013 it reneged on this policy and started selling fur products again. As of December 2022, Harvey Nichols was selling fur products from several brands including Yves Solomon, CP Company, Canada Goose, and Moncler. The latter two companies have previously also made commitments to phase-out fur from their designs, with Canada Goose stating they would stop manufacturing fur at the end of 2022, and Moncler stating their last collection using fur will be Autumn/Winter 2023.
HSI/UK wrote to Harvey Nichols in 2022 setting out the many ways in which conditions for animals on fur farms are fundamentally incompatible with the company’s Animal Sourcing Policy, which sets out a commitment to ethical treatment of animals, including ensuring freedom from fear, pain, distress and injury, and freedom to express normal behaviours in sufficient space.
The announcement makes Harvey Nichols the latest in a long line of retailers and designers that have turned their backs on fur in recent years, including Frasers Group, Farfetch, Net-a-Porter, Burberry, Chanel and Prada. The announcement signifies the accelerating decline of the fur trade and adds further pressure to the few remaining fashion brands that continue to sell fur to follow suit.
Humane Society International/UK works to end the fur trade globally and leads the #FurFreeBritain campaign for a UK fur imports and sales ban.
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Media contact: Sally Ivens: 07590 559299; sivens@hsi.org
Ricky Gervais and Pete Wicks lend their support to Fur Free Britain campaign as Humane Society International/UK and FOUR PAWS UK launch new investigation and report exposing cruelty of global fur trade
Humane Society International / United Kingdom
LONDON—Politicians, celebrities and campaigners gathered in Parliament today to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the UK becoming the first country to ban fur farming, and to urge the UK Government to ‘finish the job’ by banning fur imports and sales. The Only Way Is Essex star Pete Wicks attended and spoke about his previous visit to fur farms, and a new video message in support of the #FurFreeBritain campaign from comedian and actor Ricky Gervais was shown.
Two decades after the last fur farm closed down, the UK continues to allow imports of fur from animals farmed and trapped overseas, creating an unacceptable double-standard. If fur is too cruel to produce here, it is too cruel to sell here, argue the campaigners.
With the support of 35 cross-party MPs, including Elliott Coburn, Maria Eagle, Baroness Jenny Jones and Dr Lisa Cameron who attended a Parliamentary reception sponsored by Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) Daniel Zeichner MP in the House of Commons today, FOUR PAWS UK released a new report demonstrating the scale of abuse inherent in the trade and the role the UK continues to play in this cruelty. Attendees watched footage from Humane Society International/UK’s new investigation, undertaken on multiple fur farms in China, revealing the extreme suffering endured by raccoon dogs, mink and foxes for fur fashion. The shocking scenes showed baby animals kept in filthy, barren conditions, with many of the older animals found to be exhibiting signs of mental distress such as pacing and circling their tiny cages.
TOWIE star Pete Wicks was at the event supporting the call for a #FurFreeBritain. Reflecting on his experience of visiting Finnish fur farms with HSI/UK, Pete said: “Nothing can prepare you for how truly awful the fur trade is for these poor animals. We saw dead animals lying in the cages, fox cubs’ tiny paws falling through the wire mesh floor, and even one mink with a head wound being eaten alive by his cage mates. Looking into the eyes of these desperate animals, knowing that they were suffering simply to end up as a bobble on a hat, or a trim on a coat was so shocking. And to know that they could easily be killed for fur that ends up being sold in UK shops, was really upsetting. We simply cannot call ourselves a nation of animal lovers for as long as this cruelty is still being imported here, and while it’s still legal for it to be sold in our shops.”
In a video message, Ricky Gervais said: “The UK was the first country in the world to ban cruel fur farming, but 20 years later, the UK still has blood on its hands by importing fur from overseas. My message to the UK government is simple – end this double standard and BAN fur imports.”
There is strong public backing for a fur sales ban, with over 1.1 million signatures collected to date in support of a #FurFreeBritain. An April 2022 poll revealed 77% of British voters think the UK Government should ban the importation of animal products such as fur, where production methods are already banned in the country. The Government ran a consultation on the UK fur trade in May 2021 which amassed 30,000 responses, but has still not released the results.
Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) Daniel Zeichner: “Twenty years ago this month, the then Labour Government shut down the last UK fur farms for good when the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Act came into force. However, 20 years on, despite the UK’s strong and unequivocal ethical stand against fur, we are now outsourcing our cruelty overseas. A Labour Government would take action on this double standard and deliver a fur free Britain.”
Elliot Colburn, MP for Carshalton and Wallington said: “The British public rightly has high expectations that the government will deliver promised improvements in the laws that protect animals, and it’s important that we set high standards for the products that we allow to be imported and sold here. We rightly banned fur farming across the UK because it’s so cruel, and now we have the opportunity to lead the way again by banning fur sales, as California has done. The Government has already gathered 30,000 responses in its call for evidence on the UK fur trade, I look forward to seeing the results, which will undoubtedly help inform and underpin a strong policy position.”
Claire Bass, senior director of campaigns and public affairs at Humane Society International/UK, said: “Action on banning the UK’s trade in fur, and other hugely popular and promised animal welfare legislation, has been kicked into the long grass since last summer, and we urge Rishi Sunak and Therese Coffey to get back on track to deliver the Government’s much-applauded Action Plan for Animal Welfare. As politicians and the public start looking at what might be on the menu in manifestos for the next election, committing to ban the cruel and unnecessary fur trade is a wide open goal for all political parties, and we’re delighted with the strong cross-party support for the campaign. The future of fashion is fur free so the sooner we stop trading in cruelty the sooner the suffering overseas stops.”
Sonul Badiani-Hamment, FOUR PAWS UK country director, said: “Globally, the UK is lagging behind and propping up a dying industry. In 2021 Israel became the world’s first country to prohibit the sale of fur and 12 US towns and states have also banned fur sales. And it’s not just governments taking action; from the runways to the high street, the fashion industry has been leading the way for decades, with retailers and consumers alike shunning the cruel and exploitative fur trade. As we mark two decades since fur farming was banned in the UK, it is high time we fully address the UK’s role in what is left of the fur trade and stop importing and exporting cruelty for good. Only by embracing a Fur Free Britain can we help save the lives of millions of animals who are needlessly killed for this abhorrent trade.”
The Parliamentary reception coincided with the launch of an official e-petition calling on the Government to ban the import and sale of fur from all species.
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Media contact: Sally Ivens: 07590 559299; sivens@hsi.org
Humane Society International/UK is calling on the UK government to make a #FurFreeBritain a reality in 2023
Humane Society International / United Kingdom
LONDON—The UK risks falling behind on animal welfare as California’s ban on fur sales has now officially taken effect, warns animal charity Humane Society International/UK. While fur farming has been banned on ethical grounds across the UK since the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Acts came into force in January 2003, two decades on it is still legal for fur from countries such as Finland and China to be imported and sold here. Using His Majesties’ Revenue and Customs figures and fur auction price data, HSI/UK estimates that the equivalent of around 1.5-2 million animals’ furs are imported annually.
California is the largest sub-national economy in the world and is predicted to soon become the fourth largest global economy. The state’s Gov. Gavin Newsom recently credited its growth on “California’s values and entrepreneurial spirit.” Momentum is also building in Europe as an official European Citizens’ Initiative petition calling for an EU-wide ban on fur farming and the import of fur products has gathered over 1.2 million signatures since it launched in May 2022. By contrast, the UK government has dragged its feet for years on banning fur imports, despite polling showing the overwhelming majority (77%) of the British public think the government should ban the import of products, such as fur, where production methods are already banned in the UK. The campaign for a #FurFreeBritain, led by Humane Society International/UK, has so far amassed more than 1 million petition signatures calling for a UK ban on fur imports and sales, as well as support from more than 80 celebrities.
Claire Bass, senior director of campaigns and public affairs at Humane Society International/UK, said: “When the UK became the first country in the world to ban fur farming, it marked us as a leader in animal protection and paved the way for many countries to follow. But 20 years on, we’re exercising a double standard. While illegal in our own backyard, millions of animals are still suffering in cramped cages overseas for frivolous fur fashion that’s shockingly permitted to be imported and sold in the UK.”
She added: “The Government’s soundbites about being a ‘world leader in animal welfare’ must be called into question when the state of California and 12 cities and towns across America have already banned fur sales, while our Ministers have been sitting on the results of a formal consultation on the UK fur trade for 18 months. Enhanced animal welfare was touted as a ‘Brexit benefit’ by the Government but so far that’s been a hollow promise; at this rate the EU will wash its hands of the disgusting fur trade before the UK does. We urge the Government to turn words into actions and adopt this extremely popular policy to deliver a #FurFreeBritain.”
In May 2021 the UK government launched a Call for Evidence on the UK fur trade, with the stated intention of using the findings to inform possible future action. The consultation closed in June 2021, but the public is still waiting for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to release these findings, despite Ministers confirming they would do so.
California’s new law makes it the first state in the U.S. to take this monumental step to end the fur trade within its borders by banning the sale and manufacturing of new animal fur products. A further 12 US cities and towns have similarly banned fur sales. California’s Assembly Bill 44, which passed in 2019, was championed by Assemblymember Laura Friedman and sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States and Animal Hope in Legislation.
Jenny Berg, California state director for the Humane Society of the United States, said: “We are grateful to California for taking a stand against the cruel fur industry by implementing this statewide ban on the production and sale of new fur products. , especially when humane, environmentally sustainable alternatives exist. We applaud California for leading the fight against fur and sending a powerful message that animals should no longer suffer and die for fashion.”
Assemblymember Laura Friedman commented: “Today marks a historic step forward for California with the implementation of a law that truly represents the values of our constituents. Californians do not want to see animals live and die in cruel ways for nothing more than fashion, and I’m so pleased that this law will help uphold our state’s animal welfare standards as well as potentially help drive innovation for more sustainable fashion alternatives.”
Before the bill’s passage, four municipalities in California – Los Angeles (2018), San Francisco (2018), Berkeley (2017) and West Hollywood (2013) – passed similar legislation, paving the way for a state-wide ban. In 2021, Israel became the first country to ban fur sales.
Facts:
- More than 100 million animals are killed for their fur every year worldwide. The vast majority (around 95%) of these spend their entire lives confined in small, barren cages unable to act out their most basic behaviours such as running, digging and, in the case of mink, swimming.
- The UK was the first country in the world to ban fur farming and 18 other European countries have now followed suit, including Ireland, France, Italy and most recently in September 2022, Latvia.
- California’s ban applies to brick-and-mortar stores selling new fur products as well as online sales of fur products into the state.
- In addition to California, similar bans have also passed in the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berkeley and West Hollywood, and the towns of Brookline, Weston, Wellesley, Cambridge and Plymouth in Massachusetts, Ann Arbor in Michigan, Boulder in Colorado and Hallandale Beach in Florida.
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Media contact: Sally Ivens: 07590 559299; sivens@hsi.org
Humane Society International
SEOUL, South Korea—Humane Society International/Korea welcomes the introduction of the Act on the Vitalization of Development, Dissemination, and Use of Alternatives to Animal Testing Methods (VAAM Act). Assembly member Jeoung Ae Han and 12 other National Assembly members introduced the measure on December 23rd.
In an era with so many questions arising around the scientific validity of animal testing carried out in relation to food, pharmaceutical and chemical safety, there are also increasing efforts to develop and standardize alternatives to animal testing approaches.
The VAAM Act was introduced to emphasize the urgency of passing a bill introduced in December 2020, that supports non-animal technology development and adoptionAssembly member In-Soon Nam introduced the earlier bill, the Act on the Promotion of Development, Dissemination and Use of Alternatives to Animal Testing Methods (PAAM Act).
Assembly member Han explained the aim of the new bill: “There needs to be a legislative system to actively share research information and support for alternatives to animal testing using innovative approaches by cross-ministerial authorities. We need to improve public health with advanced science, following global examples.”
As HSI/Korea director of government affairs, Borami Seo observed, “There are challenges in using internationally recognised alternative methods in Korea due to different guidelines provided by various ministries. It is important that our central ministries come together to support non-animal approaches with strategic plans from development to implementation. Assemblymember Nam’s December, 2020 was a first step. Together, the VAAM Act. and PAAM Act will serve to prioritize the importance of human biology-based methods without using animals. That’s great for people and animals.”
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Media contact: Borami Seo bseo@hsi.org
Bill 70/2014, backed by Humane Society International, passed a plenary session vote in the Senate, advancing bill to final legislative step
Humane Society International
BRASILIA—After nearly a decade in the National Congress, Bill 70/2014, which aims to enact a federal ban on animal testing for cosmetics in Brazil, passed the Senate today. The amended bill, which represents the collaborative work of Humane Society International and the Brazilian Association of the Personal Hygiene, Perfumery and Cosmetics Industry, garnered the support of Sen. Alessandro Vieira, Sen. Eliziane Gama andSen. Nelsinho Trad. The Liberte-se da Crueldade Brazil campaign, launched in 2012, led by Humane Society International in Brazil in partnership with the NGO Te Protejo, handed in more than 1.6 million signatures to the President of the Senate demonstrating citizen support to encourage the swift vote of this bill, which has been dwelling in Congress for nearly a decade.
Humane Society International in cooperation with the Brazilian Association of the Personal Hygiene, Perfumery and Cosmetics Industry strengthened the bill language to reflect international best practices in non-animal testing methods. Stakeholders achieved a consensus, highlighting that cosmetics animal testing on products and their ingredients was unnecessary, leading to the unanimous vote of the amended bill, marking a significant milestone for animals used in laboratories in Brazil.
Antoniana Ottoni, public affairs specialist from HSI, said: ‘We’ve achieved a significant milestone today. After nearly a decade in Congress, we were finally able to pass this in the Federal Senate. We are very pleased to see this bill moving once again. This was a joint effort between Humane Society International, the Brazilian Association of the Personal Hygiene, Perfumery and Cosmetics Industry and the politicians who have supported this issue. We thank the president of the Senate for championing this bill, along with all senators who continue to reinforce this issue in Congress. We look forward to working with all stakeholders to move the bill swiftly through the final legislative stage to become law.”
Senator Nelsinho Trad said: “It is our duty to protect animals. I am happy to endorse this matter and with the movement of the Federal Senate in favor of the cause. Now, we urge colleagues in the Chamber of Deputies to analyze the substitutive text and approve it as soon as possible.”
The next step for this project to become a federal law will be a debate and vote in the Chamber of Deputies, which could make Brazil the 43rd country to ban animal testing for cosmetics.
Facts:
- Animal testing for cosmetics can subject rabbits, guinea pigs and mice to eye/skin irritation, eye/skin corrosion, acute toxicity (LD50), and other tests s without pain relief. Consequences of this type of experimentation are permanent skin injuries, blindness, eye irritation, stress, intoxication and death.
- Worldwide, there are already 42 countries that have banned animal testing for cosmetic purposes, including India, Norway, Switzerland, South Korea, Australia, Colombia, Mexico and those belonging to the European Union. At the national level, the Federal District and 13 states in Brazil have legislated through state laws to end these practices: São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Amazonas, Pará, Santa Catarina, Paraná, Pernambuco, Espírito Santo, Acre and Paraíba. However, Bill 70/2014 seeks to ban experimentation on animals for cosmetics at the federal level, thus including all states in the country.
- More than 2,000 “cruelty-free” beauty brands are available worldwide. These companies produce safe products by using ingredients that have a history of safe use along with modern reliability assessment tools without the need for animals. HSI recommends reviewing the list of brands free of animal testing in Te Protejo Brasil.
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Media Contact: Antoniana Ottoni: +556181403636; aottoni@hsi.org
Humane Society International / Global
SEOUL—Humane Society International/Korea has won an “Outstanding Contribution to Society” award, given by the Korean Society for Alternative to Animal Experiments.
The award is sponsored by KSAAE every year to recognize individual academics and institutions and entities that contribute to the promotion of alternative approaches to animal testing. The award ceremony was held at the 3rd Asia Congress for Alternatives to Animal Experiments in Korea. Congress participants, along with representatives from South Korea, Japan, China, India, Europe, and USA joined in congratulating HSI/Korea on receiving the award.
HSI/Korea has been active in public awareness and legislative campaigns focusing on the chemical toxicity, medical and biologicals fields to remove obsolete animal tests and promote non-animal methods using state-of-the-art technologies. Even as interest in adopting human-biology relevant approaches increases worldwide, regulatory acceptance and use of such human-predictive methods remain slow in Korea.
HSI/Korea, director, government affairs Borami Seo said “We are thrilled to receive this “Outstanding Contribution to Society” award. HSI/Korea would like to share this honor with the many parties who supported our mission to promote animal testing replacement for better science. Right now, there is a bill, the Act on the Promotion of Development, Dissemination and Use of Alternatives to Animal Testing Methods in the national assembly and we urge the government to support this measure in the interest of Korean scientific communities and public health.”
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Media Contact: Borami Seo: bseo@hsi.org
Humane Society International / Belgium
BRUSSELS—Animal protection charity Humane Society International/Europe strongly condemns Denmark’s plan to import 10,000 mink from Iceland, Norway, Spain, Poland and Finland to start a new breeding programme for fur farms once the country’s temporary mink breeding and farming ban is lifted from Jan. 1, 2023. Only around 1% of Danish fur farmers (14 out of more than 1,200 mink farm companies) applied for State Aid to re-start business if the temporary ban was lifted.
Two years ago, all Danish mink farms were shut down on government order and the animals were gassed to death following the discovery that a mink variant of the coronavirus could be transmitted to humans, and that hundreds of SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks had been recorded on mink farms across Europe. It remains unclear how the imported animals will be health screened, and if a solution is not in place in time, all the animals could potentially be killed upon arrival.
Dr Joanna Swabe, senior director of public affairs at HSI/Europe, commented: “It is contemptible that 10,000 mink are to be transported to Denmark, including 2,000 animals currently being shipped from Iceland across rough winter seas, to refill the barren wire cages on a handful of Danish fur farms whose owners decided to continue profiting quite literally off the backs of defenceless animals. This is happening as across the EU, more than one million people so far have signed an official petition calling for an end to all fur farming. Mink farms are a ticking time bomb for disease risk, and we urge both the competent national authorities and the European Commission to closely scrutinise any mass movement of potentially infectious animals, as well as act to shut down the fur trade before it delivers the next pandemic.”
With consumers and designers alike increasingly rejecting fur, the industry has been in financial decline for years. The pandemic compounded this decline, hastening the closure of fur farms in the Netherlands and the introduction of bans in several other EU countries. However, SARS-CoV-2 continues to pose a threat to public health for as long as the factory farming of mink—a species highly susceptible to this virus and a source of viral mutations—is allowed to take place.
Although Danish authorities have given the green light for fur production to resume, there is growing public support for a total ban on fur farming. Indeed, Denmark was one of the first EU Member States to reach the national threshold for signatures for the European Citizens’ Initiative for a Fur-Free Europe, which calls for a ban on all fur farming across the European Union. After just seven months, this petition has amassed more than 1.1 million signatures.
Background information on fur farming:
- More than 100 million animals are killed for their fur every year worldwide—that is equivalent to three animals dying every second, just for their fur.
- Fur farming has been banned in 19 European countries, including Malta, Ireland, Estonia, France, Italy and most recently Latvia on Sept. 22, 2022. Political discussions on a ban are also underway in Romania, Lithuania, Spain and Poland. A further two countries (Switzerland and Germany) have implemented such strict regulations that fur farming has effectively ended, and three other countries (Denmark, Sweden and Hungary) have imposed measures that have ended the farming of certain species. Mink farming is also being phased out in the Canadian province of British Colombia. The UK was the first country in the world to ban fur farming, in 2003.
- Outbreaks of COVID-19 have been documented on over 480 mink fur farms in 12 different countries in Europe and North America since April 2020.
- Fur also comes with a hefty environmental price tag including C02 emissions from intensively farming carnivorous animals and the manure runoff into lakes and rivers. A cocktail of toxic and carcinogenic chemicals, such as chromium and formaldehyde, is 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 the last few years alone, Moncler, Dolce & Gabbana, Canada Goose, Oscar de la Renta, Valentino, Gucci, Burberry, Versace, Chanel, Prada and other high-profile brands have announced fur-free policies.
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Media Contact: Yavor Gechev, communications director for HSI/Europe: ygechev@hsi.org