Bringing an end to fur in fashion is a core priority initiative for us, and earlier this year, we released our investigation of fur farms in China. And now, a study has found zoonotic viruses in foxes, mink and raccoon dogs who have come from fur farms in China that have spillover potential to infect human beings.
We have also previously reported on outbreaks of COVID-19 and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza affecting more than 500 fur farms in Europe and North America, resulting in millions of animals ordered killed on public health grounds.
At this point, it should be common knowledge that life on a fur farm is no life at all: Animals born on fur farms spend their entire lives in cramped, unsanitary cages with no meaningful enrichment, socialization or basic veterinary care. But perhaps not so widely known is that the immune-suppressing stress caused by cruel confinement methods makes these wild animals particularly susceptible to disease. These cages are also often kept outside, which means disease can spread between captive fur-bearing animals and the wild animals and birds they encounter on fur farms.
While China accounts for most animals raised for fur—more than 10 million of them—there are still fur factory farms located in the U.S. And the U.S. is the third-largest buyer of fur products behind Russia and South Korea. When it comes to taking responsibility for the continuance of this horrific industry, there is more than enough blame to go around. In the U.S., fur farms are so poorly regulated that we do not actually even know how many there are. Nor are U.S. state and federal agencies even testing fur factory farms for harmful diseases such as avian influenza, which regularly wreaks havoc in some of the nation’s dairy and chicken farms and has been transmitted to people. For these and other reasons, researchers are voicing significant concern over the biosecurity risk of fur farms and their potential to cause the next pandemic.
Our campaign to end the fur trade in the United States involves urging the passage of fur sales bans, as well as raising public awareness to diminish consumer demand for fur and encourage people to embrace non-fur options in fashion. Thanks in part to our efforts, a growing number of retailers and fashion brands have gone fur-free.
This week, in the UK, a bill to ban fur imports and sales was introduced in Parliament; the bill proposes to extend existing bans on trade in fur from cats, dogs and seals to include foxes, raccoon dogs, mink, chinchilla, coyotes and other animals killed for fur fashion, and prevent the import and sale of new animal fur from all species. If passed into law, the ban would eliminate the UK’s complicity in the global fur trade. We estimate that the amount of fur imported into the UK equates to more than 1 million animals killed every year.
Anyone buying a new fur product is likely funding not only the cruelty of fur farming but the danger it poses to the world. What kind of an industry forces animals to breed just so their young can grow up to die by gassing, bludgeoning or electrocution to keep the pelts intact for fashion profits? What kind of an industry puts in jeopardy public health for the sake of a fur pom on a hat or trim on a collar? The fur industry does all that, and that’s why we are determined to end it.
Sign the fur-free pledge to tell the fashion industry where you stand on the cruelty of fur.
Follow Kitty Block @HSUSKittyBlock.