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Norway is introducing a total ban on fur farming, according to a statement released by the Norwegian animal rights organisation NOAH this weekend. The country is currently home to 300 fur farms, which breed and kill 700,000 minks and 110,000 foxes every year, so this is truly a massive victory for animals.
Animal rights activists in Norway have been campaigning for a ban on fur farming for years. In 2016, NOAH organised Europe’s largest-ever anti-fur protest, during which more than 13,000 people marched through the streets of Oslo and other Norwegian cities.
The ban, which will go into full effect once the farms are shut down in 2025, is the result of strong anti-fur campaigns across the country.
Camilla Björkbom, chairman of the Animal Society Right, said the decision sends a strong message to other countries. The statement was originally written in Swedish and was translated into English by the animal rights publication Veggie Athletic.
“We welcome the Swedish Government’s proposal to investigate the welfare of minkers on Sweden’s fur farms, but today we see that Norway shows that a ban on fur farming is possible,” Björkbom wrote.
“This is a great news, not least for all the animals that are now not born and killed for their fur in Norway, but also because it sets a good example for Sweden and the upcoming Swedish investigation.”
“Norway is talking about today’s message to the growing number of countries in Europe who discontinue fur farming. By 2017, the Czech Republic and Germany have also decided to shut down fur farms,” Björkbom said.
Fur farming has been banned in the UK for over a decade but remains legal in Ireland, where more than 150,000 minks are gassed and skinned every year. Please write to the Irish Minister for Agriculture today to ask him to put an end to this cruel industry.
