Fats, contaminated foxes crammed into small cages; Cubs fed by useless siblings: footage captured by an animal rights group paints a stunning image of fur farming in Finland.
With round a million pelts produced yearly, Finland is Europe’s main producer of licensed fox fur and second on the earth after China.
However the brand new pictures spotlight the controversy surrounding the Nordic nation’s fur trade, which is combating calls to ban the trade.
“Fur farming ought to have been banned in Finland by now and I feel it is a disgrace that it hasn’t been carried out but,” Left Alliance MP Mai Kivela informed AFP.
In December, the European Residents’ Initiative calling for a ban on the fur trade within the EU reached the a million signatures wanted to get a response from the Fee.
The initiative calls on the EU to observe a rising variety of member states in outlawing the apply, which it considers “inherently merciless”.
Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Mari’s Social Democratic Social gathering has determined to help the ban in 2020, following within the footsteps of the Left Alliance and the Greens.
However these in favor of an outright ban are nonetheless a minority within the Finnish parliament, because the €360 million export trade is significant to some rural areas.
– ‘Completely scary’ –
Finnish animal rights group Oikeutta Elaimille (Justice for Animals) has shared with AFP unpublished footage it says was secretly filmed at six totally different Finnish fur farms in 2022.
Finnish Fur Breeders’ Affiliation FIFUR, which certifies farms to make sure animal well being, confirmed to AFP that that they had permitted 4 of the farms recognized by the activists.
AFP printed movies and footage from these 4 licensed farms.
The footage reveals the circumstances wherein the foxes dwell, crammed inside small, wire cages.
Within the video, you may see them affected by eye illnesses, ear and tail infections.
“The situation of the animals in these farms is totally horrible,” activist Christo Muurimaa informed AFP.
Muurimaa mentioned foxes are unable to satisfy their pure behavioral wants in crowded cages, subjecting them to “numerous behavioral disturbances,” reminiscent of compelled back-and-forth actions.
Oikeutta Elaimille additionally mentioned the foxes had been “over-breeded for his or her giant measurement”, resulting in well being issues reminiscent of pores and skin folds and painful eye infections.
Among the foxes within the footage are so fats they do not even seem like foxes.
Within the footage, it may be seen that the little cubs are consuming their useless siblings.
Muurimaa argued that Finland’s animal safety legislation “lags far behind European requirements” and the issues are widespread.
“All Finnish fur farms are kind of the identical animal-wise,” says Muurimaa.
– ‘False image’ –
FIFUR condemned the unauthorized filming on the farms as “unlawful intrusion” and informed AFP the photographs didn’t mirror actuality.
“They provide a totally improper concept, a one-sided instance of fur farming,” mentioned Olli-Pekka Nissinen, a spokesman for the affiliation that represents most of Finland’s fur producers.
FIFUR mentioned they confirmed the footage to the producers however “could not determine their animals aside from one silver fox”.
Nevertheless, FIFUR vets “will nonetheless be visiting farms within the coming days” to analyze the claims.
“These 4 farms are well-managed, licensed fur farms the place the producers handle their animals,” Nissinen mentioned.
The FIFUR certification course of contains common audit visits yearly.
“The animals are typically in good situation,” Nissinen mentioned.
“Generally, if there are 5 or ten thousand animals on a farm” that producers are treating, “there can at all times be animals with sudden eye infections or ear infections,” Nissinen mentioned.
However certification statistics present that “accidents and fatalities are fairly low.”
– Requires a ban –
Quite a few European nations, together with Austria and the UK, have already banned fur farming, and the Covid-19 pandemic has prompted extra nations to observe go well with.
France, the Netherlands and Estonia launched new bans in the course of the pandemic, whereas Denmark ordered the culling of the nation’s whole farmed mink inhabitants following the Covid outbreak.
In 2021, Austria and the Netherlands known as on the EU to finish fur farming, a name supported by Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and Slovakia.
However the growers’ affiliation in Finland says any EU ban can be in opposition to the bloc’s guidelines.
“The ban on fur farming and fur commerce is in opposition to the EU treaties and the 4 freedoms,” Nissinen mentioned – a reference to the free motion of products, folks, providers and capital that type the premise of the EU’s founding treaty.
He famous that the fur trade was crucial to rural Finland and employed about 3,000 folks.
“We’re similar to every other agricultural livestock sector coping with livestock.”
worry/po/jj/smw
