LONDON – After the Dutch government ordered the culling of thousands of mink in farms across the country due to an increasing number of confirmed coronavirus cases, animal protection group Humane Society International (HSI) has called on governments the world over to follow suit in order to banish them outright.
Mink bred on such farms are commonly used in the fashion industry but have been subject to increasing calls of late, including from PETA, to eradicate this trade and such sites with fears mounting of their potential to catalyse a new wave of the virus.
“The Netherlands’ deadline of 2024 for phasing out mink fur farms simply provides three and a half more years of unnecessary risk,” says Dr Joanna Swabe, HSI’s senior director of public affairs. “The Dutch government, and all fur-producing countries like Denmark, Poland, France, Italy, China, Finland, Spain and the United States, should commit to end this inhumane practice and protect public health.”
