Fur

Fur facts: The reality of animals' lives in the fur industry

The fur industry – an industry built on myths

Some want to believe their fur was produced without harming animals. Some want to think that fur animals lived happy lives and died painlessly before becoming fashion. Some are so focused on believing that they refuse to think.

A new awareness of animals' living conditions

The fur industry's main goal is that consumers don’t start thinking critically. So they market fur as stylish fashion. But many people have now seen firsthand how animals on fur farms live in cramped wire cages. They’ve learned these animals show compulsive behaviors, apathy, and self-destructive tendencies—pure frustration from their stimulus-starved lives. It’s no longer a secret that millions of animals live without the ability to move naturally or experience joy.

All animals deserve respect

Of course, fur can’t keep warm for the animal it came from. Fur no longer appears beautiful to anyone willing to see its story through eyes not clouded by convenience. Then fur is no longer stylish but painful and a mark of disrespect for animals. Fur is unnatural and produced through the unnatural exploitation of animals.

Do we have the right to confine living, sentient beings, cause them suffering, and take their lives—all for our vanity? For more and more, the answer is no.

Animals never get used to cages

Fur animals remain wild even after 100 years in captivity. This means they fear humans. This fear is in itself stressful. Even animals not overtly showing fear have instincts and needs that cannot be bred out, including movement, social, and species-specific behaviors. These natural needs can’t be met in tiny cages.

Mink in the wild

In nature, mink hold territories around 2.5 km² near water. Mink are active, curious, and clever animals that hunt both underwater and on land. They make homes in burrows under tree roots or in rock crevices. With webbed toes, mink are skilled swimmers and depend on water.

Scientific studies show mink in captivity still strongly need water to swim in. Yet no farmed mink have access to swimming water.

Mink – robbed of their nature

About 14 million mink are bred on Danish fur farms. A cage for two mink is only 30 cm wide. Mink in cages show clear signs of behavioral disorders: roughly 15% of their 6 waking hours are spent on compulsive behaviors. These include biting the cage or their own fur out of frustration, pacing restlessly, or total apathy. Those who react passively may suffer most, lacking any outlet for their frustration.

Fox farming – banned in Denmark

Fox farms are banned in Denmark for ethical reasons. As early as 1989, the Ethical Council on Farm Animals declared fox farming unethical.

Parliament then introduced regulations to improve fox welfare. But in 2009 it was concluded that no rules could ensure acceptable conditions, leading to a ban on fox farming for ethical reasons. These farms are now being phased out.

Fox welfare problems on fur farms are similar to mink. Both are predators, not domesticated, and can’t express natural behaviors in cages.

All the reasons fox farming is banned apply equally to mink farming.

How fur gets shiny

The industry claims shiny fur signals well-being. High fur quality is achieved despite poor welfare. Diets of grain, fish, and slaughterhouse waste play a big role: in autumn, carbohydrate content rises relative to protein, making the fur shiny.

Birth and death on the farm

Breeding occurs in March for both species; pups are born in April/May. Only the mother contacts the pups. For foxes, this is unnatural since wild ones live in family groups. The young are taken from their mother at about 6–7 months old.

When breeding foxes, farmers grab them by the neck with metal tongs. Heat is checked using a 'heat meter'—a type of thermometer inserted into the animal’s genital opening.

Farmers handle mink wearing thick gloves to protect against the frightened animals' self-defense attempts.

How the animals die

Pups are killed around 6–7 months old. Breeding animals remain on farms for up to 6 years before their fur is taken. Foxes are often killed by electrocution with electrodes inserted into mouth and anus. This causes pain like a heart attack while the fox is still conscious.

Gassing is often presented as humane, but studies show mink strongly avoid the gas, making death painful.

The EU Commission acknowledges these killing methods are painful but has chosen not to ban them for commercial reasons.

Wild animals caught in nature

About 10 million fur animals are caught in the wild yearly. Coyotes and beavers are trapped with fox traps; seals are clubbed to death. The fur industry has driven many species extinct while hunting for popular designer furs.

Trap hunting – cruel and slow

Fox traps, the most common and brutal, hold animals until checked and killed by clubs or guns. Many unintended animals—dogs, cats, birds—are caught and discarded as waste because they can’t be sold. Many traps are illegal in Denmark but millions of skins from these traps are still imported yearly.

Seal hunting – a massacre of wild animals

One million seals are killed annually for fashion. Most are clubbed, crushing their skulls. Many strikes miss, leaving seals skinned alive and conscious. The EU banned seal product imports after pressure from many groups, but commercial seal hunting hasn’t fully stopped.

Fur farming – disappearing from Europe

In a country where there are nearly 3 times as many mink as people, it may seem far-fetched to think this industry and all other fur farming is being phased out.

But from northern Norway and Sweden to Italy in the south, Europe is slowly but surely making the fur industry a relic of the past. 17 of 27 EU countries have already banned fur farming, and an additional 7 European countries are currently considering fur bans.The first fur farm ban was passed in England in 2000, so the political trend is clear and fast. All these countries acknowledge fur animals’ welfare is so poor that providing tolerable conditions is impossible, and killing them solely for fur is ethically dubious when alternatives exist. Denmark has banned fox farms on ethical grounds; the next logical step is closing mink farms.

Fur and the environment

Fur animals are predators and produce manure rich in phosphate and nitrogen. According to the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, mink farms pollute more per animal unit than any other animal production. In 2003, they stated Danish mink farms produce as many nutrients as half a million people.

Fur farms pollute more than cars

In 2006, the UN’s report "Livestock’s Long Shadow" confirmed that animal farming is the largest source of greenhouse gases, surpassing all cars, planes, and other transport combined. The millions of animals farmed for fur contribute significantly to global warming. In a noted case, the fur industry tried to market fur as organic but was ruled against: “Considering how fur is produced—through trapping (often foot snares), fur farms, and as byproducts of industrial animal farming—it cannot be claimed to be 'organic.' Fur has nothing to do with the natural relationship between animals and their environment. The tanning of fur products can’t be called organic or eco-friendly, as harmful chemicals are used...”

Skin treatment pollutes

The World Bank ranks leather tanning among the five most environmentally damaging industries worldwide. Tanning uses chromium and ozone, among other pollutants. Any other textile is more eco-friendly than fur.

Dog and cat fur

Dog and cat fur is typically imported from Asia and sold in Denmark as fur trims under false names. This information comes from an 18-month undercover investigation in China by Humane Society of the United States, the world's largest animal rights organization. Dogs are bred in northern China, where the climate is coldest. They are kept in unheated rooms to thicken their fur. Some dogs are captured off the streets, so many pet dogs end up as fur coats.

Dog fur in Denmark

Although furs are produced in China, many end up in Europe. There, they are sold under names like ‘Asian/Chinese wolf’, ‘rabbit’, ‘Gou-pee’, and countless others. Once dyed and cut, it’s almost impossible to tell which animal the fur came from.

Much dog fur is smuggled as trims on jackets, shoes, and gloves—even stuffed animals and toys may contain dog fur.