Fur farming

Mink farm (after 1900)

A mink farm in the United States

Fur farming is the practice of breeding or raising certain types of animals for their fur.

The animal most commonly farmed for its fur is the mink. As of 2003, Denmark had the largest fur-farming industry of mink, with 35% of world production.^[1] Fur farming takes place mainly in Denmark, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands in Europe. China with its huge fur industry is the largest importer and re-exporter of fur in the world.^[2]

Fur farming is banned in Austria,^[3][4] Croatia (started on January 1, 2007, with a 10 year phase out period),^[4][5] and the United Kingdom.^[6] In Switzerland, the regulations for fur farming are very strict, with the result that there are no fur farms.^[4] Some other countries have a ban on fur farming of certain types of animals.

Demand fell in the late 1980s and 1990s because of a number of factors, including the failure of designers to come up with exciting new lines, and also the efforts of animal rights campaigners. Since the turn of the millennium, however, sales worldwide have soared to record highs, fuelled by radically new techniques for working with fur, and a sharp rise in disposable income in China and Russia. This growing demand has led to the development of extensive fur farming operations in countries such as China, where activist groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have raised concerns about inhumane treatment of animals and the nature of some slaughterhouse practices.

History

While wearing fur clothing in cold weather as protection goes back to the stone age, the source for this material came from the wild. As human populations grew, furs, leathers and hides for use in clothing came from farm stock such as sheep (sheepskin), rabbits, cattle, pigs and goats. The earliest records of breeding mink for fur in North America were in the 1860s. Foxes were first raised on farms for fur in PEI in Canada in 1895.^[7]

Historically, the fur trade played an important economic role in the United States. Fur trappers explored and opened up large parts of North America, and the fashion for beaver hats led to intense competition for supplies of raw materials. Starting in the latter half of the 20th century, producers and wearers of fur have been criticized because of the perceived cruelty involved in animal trapping and because the availability other natural and synthetic fibers (from oil) that competed with natural fiber furs.

Today, 85 percent of the fur industry's pelts come from animals raised on farms. The most farmed fur-bearing animal is the mink, followed by the fox. Finnish raccoon and chinchilla are also farmed for their fur. Sixty-four percent of fur farms are in Northern Europe, 11 percent are in North America, and the rest are dispersed throughout the world, in countries such as Argentina and Russia.^[8]

Various types

Mink

Mink colours

Mink have been farmed for fur in the United States for 130 years. In 2005, the U.S. ranked fourth in production behind Denmark, China and the Netherlands. Mink typically breed in March, and give birth to their litters in May. Farmers vaccinate the young kits for botulism, distemper, enteritis, and, if needed, pneumonia. They are harvested in late November and December. Methods for killing animals on fur farms, as on all farms, are detailed in the American Veterinary Medical Association's Report on Euthanasia which is used as a voluntary guideline for state departments of agriculture which have jurisdiction over all farms raising domesticated livestock, including mink. [1]

Mink are bred once a year, the average litter is three or four kits. The best animals are kept for breeding stock for the next year and the remainder are killed for their pelts.

The white mink, a northern European breed, was introduced into Canada in 1968.

Chinchilla

Chinchilla

A 2-year-old standard gray female chinchilla

The international trade in chinchilla fur goes back to the 1500s and the animal (whose name literally means "Little Chincha") is named after the Chincha people of the Andes, who wore its soft and dense fur. By the end of the 19th century, chinchillas had become quite rare. In 1923, Mathias F. Chapman brought the eleven wild chinchillas he had captured to the U.S. for breeding. Only three of these were female. Empress Chinchilla is the breeders association for the chinchilla farmers, many of whom are based in the United States, including California. Empress Chinchilla runs a certification program for farmers. [2]

Fox

"Cross fox" furs. The cross across the shoulders is a common Red fox marking.

Caged Red fox featuring the rare silver morph.

Finland is the world's leading producer of fox pelts. In the USA, fox production is about 10,000 pelts, produced in about 10 states. Wisconsin and Utah have the most and second most number of fur farms in the USA. Canada produces ten to fifteen times as many fox furs as the USA.^[9]

Dog and cat

Domesticated dog and cat meat and fur products would not be acceptable to consumers in many countries. The USA banned the import, export and sale of products made from dog and cat fur, in 2000,^[10] when undercover videos from the Swiss Animal Protection, PETA and the Humane Society International documented dogs and cats being trucked to market without food and water, pulled from their cages, disemboweled, bashed on the ground to stun them, then hung by wires, and skinned when still alive. Italy, France, Denmark, Greece, Belgium and Australia ban the practice,^[11] and the European Union ban took affect as of the January 1, 2009.^[12] However, many products made with dog or cat fur may be mislabeled, on purpose or accidentally.^[13]

Rabbit

A load of rabbit skins (c. 1905)

The main breed in the rabbit fur farming industry, is the Rex (Castor Rex and Chinchilla Rex). Breeding animals are kept for up to 3 years, and usually give birth twice a year. The kindle are taken from their mothers at 4 weeks old to be put in a nursery with other kindle. After this the mothers are kept separated from their kits, and they get put together only for feeding. When the kits are 7 to 8 weeks old, they are put in solitary cages, where they are kept for ca 6-7 months, and are harvested after they have shed their winter fur. The rabbits are kept in bare wire mesh cages. A cage for one rabbit have the floor space of ca. two shoe boxes. The mortality rate for caged Rex is 10 - 15%, mostly from respiratory disease.^[14] Another breed of rabbit, is the Orylag, which is farmed only in France. The Orylag is bred for fur and meat. They are slaughtered at ca. 20 weeks. It was bred by the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA). The mortality rate for caged Orylag is 25 - 30%, mostly from respiratory disease.^[14] Broken bones and traumatic lesions are common when rabbits are transported to the slaughter. A small percent is also dead on arrival, often due to the rabbits being tightly packed in, with poor ventilation.^[14]

Controversy

Opponents of fur farming state that, as with other large scale animal farms, the methods used on fur factory farms are focused on maximizing profits rather on the physical or psychological welfare of the animals.^[15][16][17]

Christy Turlington in a PETA advertisement.

As with other types of large scale animal farming, living conditions of animals do vary and the extreme cases are ones of much contention. For example, according to PETA, some fur farmers pack animals into small cages, preventing them from taking more than a few steps back and forth.^[15] This crowding and confinement is extremely distressing to mink — solitary animals who may occupy as much as 2,500 acres (10 km²) of wetland habitat in the wild. Life in a cage leads minks to self-mutilate — biting at their skin, tails, and feet — and frantically pace and circle endlessly. Zoologists at Oxford University who studied captive mink found that, despite generations of being bred for fur, minks have not been domesticated and suffer greatly in captivity, especially if they are not given the opportunity to swim.^[18] Foxes and other animals suffer equally and have been found to cannibalize each other as a reaction to their crowded confinement.^[15]

In other cases, as with passing of animal welfare legislation in Italy, animals are required to be "given enriched living environments in which they can climb on branches, dig holes, use a nest of 50 × 50 cm and also have a water basin of at least 2 × 2 metres and 50 cm deep in which to swim."^[19] Farmers argue that 50 years ago, the animals were kept in large outdoor holding areas, with pools of water. However, such "farms" resulted in high disease rates for the animals and were not practical.

Farmers argue that today's farmed animals only know farm life. Hunters and trappers argue that the ultimate in "free range" fur comes from wild harvest where the animals live all their lives in the wild.

The methods used for killing the animals vary depending on the animal. For wild furs, biologists and wildlife managers dictate seasons, methods of kill and numbers of animals to be taken.

In 2005, the Swiss Animal Protection (SAP) released an undercover video depicting details of a fur farm in Hebei, China in which men were seen throwing live animals to the ground and skinning them while they were still alive.^[20]

United Kingdom

Fur farming was banned in England and Wales by the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Act 2000^[21] and in Scotland by the Fur Farming (Prohibition) (Scotland) Act 2002.^[22] At second reading, the ban in England and Wales was justified principally on grounds of public morality.^[19]

Austria

In Austria, six of the nine federal states have banned fur farming and in the remaining three there are such strict welfare regulations, in relation to the availability of swimming water, that fur farming is no longer economically viable.^[19]

Republic of Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland there are currently five fur farms in operation. These farms focus mainly on the trade of mink fur (some farms which have used fox fur are currently winding down operation as such trade is no longer economically viable). In 2006, approximately 170,000 mink and 300 foxes were slaughtered in the Republic of Ireland for their fur pelts^[23]. Furs are exported from the Republic of Ireland to other EU member states or to countries in Asia and North America where the market demands for such trade. In the Republic of Ireland, fur farms are monitored by the Department of Agriculture and welfare standards at both a Irish and European Union level must be adhered to at all times. As of October 2009, there are discussions within the political sphere demanding for the out-right ban of fur farms and fur trade in the Republic of Ireland^[24]. If such proposals are met, fur farming should begin to be phased out between 2010 to 2012 under a new animal welfare act^[25]. Animal welfare groups have welcomed such proposals^[26], though some concern has been highlighted by the fur industry in Ireland, in terms of its impact on rural communities where alternative industries are scarce. At the moment fur farming in the Republic of Ireland contributes about €3.1 million per year to the economy.^{[citation needed]}

China

In China, there are no restrictive laws to protect the welfare of animals on fur farms, and animals are skinned alive to save costs.^[27][28]

See also

• Fur
• Fur trade
• Factory farming
• Leather
• Tanning
• Animal Liberation Front
• People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

References

External links

• Fur Commission USA
• Time Line - A Brief History of the Fur Trade at White Oak Society
• Fur Industry (Archived 2009-10-31) at MSN Encarta

Videos

• Fur on Film
• Chinchilla farm investigation