The Truth About Fur Farming

In many cases, individuals who wear fur try to justify their actions by claiming their coat was made from animals killed on a ranch, as opposed to animals who suffered for days in a steel jaw leghold trap.

There is a misconception that the animals on fur farms, also called fur ranches, are treated humanely. Unfortunately, there is nothing humane about depriving animals of their behavioral and physiological needs. Fur farming is nothing more than institutionalized torture.

Why is fur farming so wrong? To learn the answer, it is important to know which species are raised and killed on fur farms. Of the thirty-one million animals killed on fur farms each year, nearly twenty-six million are mink and 4.5 million are foxes.

In addition, 250,000 chinchillas, 150,000 sables, 100,000 fitch, 100,000 raccoon dogs (a separate species from the American raccoon), and a small number of lynxes, bobcats, and coypus are fur farmed.

Mink fur is the backbone of the fur industry, and fox fur is quite significant in Scandinavia where 80 percent of the world’s fox farms are based.

The mink is a semi-aquatic predator native to North America. Mink are very solitary creatures who spend a substantial portion of their day swimming in the water. Mink are very inquisitive and have a range of two and a half. They are an active species that do not adapt well to life in a cage.

On fur farms, mink are deprived of the proper amount of space they need because they are kept in cages averaging 10 inches wide by 24 inches long.

Cage sizes may vary a few inches larger or smaller, depending upon the individual fur farm. Either way, this is inadequate space for any animal, much less an active species like the mink.

Intensive confinement has severe psychological implications. Ranched mink often engage in neurotic behavior patterns. Many move back and forth in a repetitive motion for extended periods of time. Tail biting is a form of self-mutilation that is common in captive mink populations. Self-mutilation is a hardship for fur farmers because it devalues the animals’ fur pelts.

The fur industry conducted their own tests from which they hoped to prove that ranched mink are not stressed. In their studies, young mink were used before the age when they can develop stomach ulcers and enlarged adrenal glands, both signs of prolonged stress.

The results of these inaccurate tests are used to “prove” that intensive confinement does not adversely affect the mink. It is understandable that the public is misinformed about the truth surrounding fur farms when the fur industry releases the results of such deceptive tests.

Mink are killed after their winter coat reaches “prime” to cover many of the flaws in the fur. Fur farmers recognize these flaws as being an unfortunate cost of conducting business.

Since it is cost effective for the industry to cram animals into a small space and deal with the occasional stress related death or self-mutilation, evidence of neurosis and self-mutilation is accepted by fur farmers as normal mink behavior.

A Danish study indicates that as many as 17 percent of ranch raised mink will die prematurely as a result of various factors which could include stress, poor sanitation, heat, or cannibalism.

Despite being a semi-aquatic animal, a mink will never have the opportunity to swim in water if she is born on a fur farm. Denied that option, many ranch mink die from heat related diseases in the hot summer months. Some years, as many as 10 percent of a fur farms stock may die from harsh weather conditions. The lack of exposure to swimming in water is also believed to increase behavioral problems in ranch mink.

As fashion trends change, so does fur farming. Fur farmers utilize selective inbreeding to encourage the development of mutant color phases to meet the whims of fashion. This process led to the development of white, gray, mahogany, and shades of blue fur on a mink. This style of genetic manipulation does not only change the mink’s hair color, but it creates physiological problems as well.
For example, the Hedlund white mink is a genetic mutant that was created on a fur farm. This mutated animal will lose her hearing at 30 days of age because of a genetic defect.

The Royal Pastel mink often develops what farmers call a “screw neck” deformity. A mink born with this deformity will twist her head and neck in an awkward motion repeatedly.

The Blue Iris mink suffers from a weakened immune system due to a deficiency of natural killer cells, while one strain of demi-mink has a stress syndrome. These unfortunate characteristics make life dreadful for these animals. These types of mutations are non-existent in the wild, but very common on fur farms.

Life for ranch-raised fox is not any more promising. Cannibalism is a very serious problem on fox farms. Foxes living in cramped conditions often resort to cannibalism as a result of a stress-induced environment.

An estimated 20 percent of foxes raised on ranches die prematurely. Half of those deaths are the result of cannibalism.

Animals on fur farms are not able to engage in their natural behaviors. They are treated like machines and commodities rather than living creatures with emotions. Their agony and certain death occur for the simple purpose of creating a luxury garment that serves no practical purpose.

Death for farm-raised animals is a horror story. The most common method used for killing foxes is anal electrocution. Mink are usually gassed or violently injected with poison. Many have their necks broken.

Chinchillas are also commonly raised on fur farms to be killed for their fur. The chinchilla industry proudly admits that most chinchillas are killed by neck breaking or electrocution. Chinchilla farmers hook one metal clamp to the ear, and another to the genitalia to implement the electrocution. The chinchilla is small, and as many as 100 of them are killed in order to make a single full-length fur coat.

It takes 60 female mink to make a coat, 35 male mink, and a varying number of foxes depending on whether it is a red fox, arctic fox, or a related color phase.

The anti-fur movement is making progress. Fox farming is now banned in the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. As a result of animal friendly legislation, which either outright bans fur farming or requires certain provisions for the animals (such as providing swimming water and banning the use of cages) which are not possible while remaining economically viable, Austria no longer has fur farms. This clearly indicates that there is a very serious concern for the welfare of animals in intensive confinement.

It is unclear how fur wearers can love and cherish one canine, such as their companion dog, while supporting the torture and death of another canine, the fox.