Europe’s largest producer bans fur farming, pressuring UK government over imports

Poland is Europe’s largest fur producer and the world’s second largest, behind China. But on 2 December, the president signed legislation banning fur farming, with an 8-year phase-out.

Karol Nawrocki, President of Poland, said:

Moments ago, I signed the Animal Protection Act, which introduces a ban on fur farming in Poland. This is a decision that Poles have awaited for many years. A decision that reflects our compassion, our civilizational maturity, and our respect for all living creatures.

The lower house of parliament had previously voted overwhelmingly in favour of the ban, with MPs uniting across party lines in a rare show of cross-party consensus. Around 3 million foxes, raccoon dogs, chinchillas and minks currently live on Polish farms annually.

Co-drafted by the Polish branch of animal protection charity Open Cages, and MP Małgorzata Tracz, the key provisions include:

Immediate ban on establishing new fur farms
8-year transition period for existing operations
Degressive compensation for breeders over the first 5 years (incentivising early exit)
12 months’ severance pay and career transition support for farmworkers

Tiny wire cages

Connor Jackson is CEO of the UK animal protection charity Open Cages and director of an award-winning documentary on Polish fur farming. He said:

Fur farming is the epitome of everything wrong with how we treat animals, so I’m absolutely delighted by Poland’s decision to ban it. The idea of keeping millions of foxes and minks in tiny wire cages all their lives until they go mad, all for a bit of fur on a coat that no one needs, beggars belief. But I’ve seen it with my own eyes.

Open Cages is calling for a ban on the import of fur into the UK. Jackson added:

We did the right thing by banning fur farming within our own shores in 2000, but as long as we import and sell fur in our stores, we are still supporting this industry.

Fur typically comes from intensive farms with foxes, minks and raccoon dogs confined to small cages for their entire lives. The carnivorous minks commonly bite the skin off of each other when kept in cages in fur farms. Foxes routinely suffer from severe psychological stress and physical injury. Slaughter methods involve anal electrocution for foxes, and gas chambers for minks.

The movement against fur has been building momentum for many decades, with the UK leading the way by banning fur farming in the UK in 2000 on ethical grounds.  Since then, 23 other countries have banned the practice.

In 2012, members of Open Cages in Poland released the first footage from Polish fur farms, documenting shocking conditions across 52 farms owned by large producers.

A double standard for the UK

Despite the UK deeming that fur was too cruel to be farmed within its shores, it remains legal to import and sell fur from countries like Poland. A coalition of UK animal advocacy organisations called Fur Free Britain is calling for an import and sales ban. This year, a petition to ban imports was delivered to the Prime Minister with one and a half million signatures.

Claire Bass, senior director of public affairs at Humane World for Animals UK, said:

The fur farming ban in Poland demonstrates how the world is turning its back on fur. Banning fur farming here in the UK yet continuing to import fur from overseas is a double standard that millions of British people, and more than 200 cross-party politicians, want to see ended. The fur trade is cruel to animals, dangerous to public health and totally unnecessary. This move by Poland should be a wake-up call for Westminster. The Labour Government promised a huge boost to animal welfare and backing Ruth Jones’ Private Members’ bill is a crucial way to start delivering on that.

Featured image via Open Cages